Atuagagdliutit - 25.09.1991, Blaðsíða 3

NR. 110 1991
ATUAGAGDLIUTIT/GRØNLANDSPOSTEN
3
The hunter
Bendt Frederiksen has cho-
sen to be a politician, becau-
se he thinks that he can
change the way things are
now. The problems that ne-
ed attention. But he will al-
ways be a hunter.
»I miss living like a hun-
ter. I al way s went alone. I
love the nature, and I have
long had the desire to be a
very good hunter. It has be-
en a sort of escape for me, to
be alone, and go hunting.«
»When I don’t feel well
about myself, I go hunting,
and then I feel better, and
more capable of dealing with
my job. It has always given
me a sort of peace of mind.
To be a hunter is what I am
best at, but everytime I have
wanted to quit politics, I ha-
ve received requests to con-
tinue. I think that whenyou
have such actions from the
public, it is your duty to con-
tinue. But I will always re-
turn to what I’m best at, the
job of hunting,« says the
Parlaimentary President,
Bendt Frederiksen.
AG, September 18th, 1991
Aportrait of the chairman of the Greenlandic Parlaiment, Bendt Frederiksen,
born on the Fourth of July, 1939, in Kullorsuaq, Greenland.
I was accustomed to hearing
about the political activities
of my communitee.«
From 1967 to 1971, Frede-
riksen sat in Nuussuaqs lo-
cal government. In 1975, he
was elected to the Advising
Parlaiment, on the bases of
his experience with the
Hunter’s Society. Since that
time, he has continued to ac-
tively participate in the go-
vernment, and was 6elected
in the last election as the
Parlaimentary President.
»But the point where it all
started,« he says, »was
when I began as a hunter. I
have always known that I
couldn’t be satisfied with
that by' itself. It was too
thin. In my time as a politici-
an, I have reached the point
where we are selling other
resources, such as flsh, and
that has provided for a bet-
ter economy for all of the di-
stricts.«
Alcohol
»Alcohol is a problem here,
people feel bad, or have pro-
blems, and they escaped
from it through alcohol. I
decided as a child that I
would never have that pro-
blem. My parents drank, so-
metimes I would wake up
when they had guests over,
and were drinking. At that
time I promised myself that
it would never be like that in
my home. I have tried drin-
king, but it doesn’t do any-
thing for me. I have never
tried to hide behind it when
I have a problem. People ha-
ve to learn to deal with their
problems. We can’t solve
this problem by a rationing
system. Many people, and
also the media, try to place
the blame on the govern-
ment for the alcohol pro-
blems. But it is the people
that run their lives from the
morning to the evening,
they have to learn to do that
themselves. The choice is
theirs, what they want to
eat, and also what they want
to drink.«
»If you have the money to
buy healthy food, I simply
can’t understand why the
people would spend that mo-
ney on tobacco or alcohol,
and by doing that, make
your life worse. But the
choice is yours. It doesn’t
matter if the alcohol is sold
all day and all night, or only
at certain times, which is
how it is now, because if peo-
ple want it, they will buy it.«
»Some of my children
drink, others are members
of a Temperance Society.
People have to make the
choice themselves. But, of
course, this choice is also af-
fected by the way that you
are raised. If people are un-
willing to deal with the alco-
hol problem themselves, it
will always be present. It is
that way all over the world.«
»I feel like saying to the
young people of today, that
if it is possible for us, who
were bom in the 1930’s or
later, and were first exposed
to alcohol late in our lives, to
avoid it, then it is also possi-
ble for you to do so. It is a
choice, and the rationing sy-
stem cannot do anything to
influence that.«
Bendt Frederiksen is today theparlamentary president, but
in his heart, he will always be a hunter. »That is what I do
best.« he says.
Frederiksen’s father,
Mathias Frederiksen
was a catechist by pro-
fession, but spent a great
deal of his spare time
hunting. Therefore, it
was naturally as sumed
that Bendt would beco-
me a hunter. Even
though, at the early age
of fifteen, he expressed
an interest in carpentry,
and tried to pursue his
education in this field, a
hunter was what he be-
came.
»It is said that if an excel-
lent hunter hasn’t got a go-
od wife, then he can’t lead a
decent life,« says Frederik-
sen, »So I said to myself, I
have to find a good wife, one
that can handle life with a
hunter. My wife has seven
brothers, three of which we-
re hunters, so she was accu-
stomed to cooking their cat-
ches. That is one of the rea-
sons why I decided to marry
her. In the winter of 1962,
we decided to marry, so we
were married in 1963. Since
then, we have had flve child-
ren.«
He continues, »We were
raised differently then. My
wife’s mother wouldn’t let
her marry just anyone, ho-
wever I was the son of the
catechist, therefore we had a
regular income, and also, I
was one of the few people in
the town who owned my
own boat, and not just a qa-
jaq. So I also had the oppor-
tunity for better catches.«
Bendt actually made his
debut in politics at age fifte-
en, while he was still living
in Oqaatsut. He began by
working in public relations
with the Temperance Socie-
ty that was started in Oqaat-
sut.
After 1955, when Bendt
moved to Nuussuaq, he be-
gan a type of hunter-society,
that, later, was thought to
have been the actual start of
his mature political career
in Greenland.
»But I grew up with poli-
tics in my home, my father
was an active participant in
the local government. He
talked veiy frequently of the
bad conditions for hunters
in this country«, says Frede-
riksen. »At that time, there
was veiy much talk about
forced transferring of the
villagers to the largers citi-
es. My father was against
this, and talked about it of-
ten. Athough I didn’t parti-
cipate in the conversations,
Bendt Frederiksen: »My wife’s mother wouldn’t let her daughter marry just anyone. But
I wasn’tjust anyone, I had my own boat, and not just a Qqjaq«. (Photo, John Rasmussen)
Bendt Frederiksen is born in Kullorsuaq. This is where he
learned to be a hunter. (Photo, John Rasmussen)
The Great Hunter, Bendt