The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1895-02-02
GREENLAND SABBATH
WORSHIP IN THE LITTLE CHURCH
AT SUKKERTOPPEN.

An Eskimo, Danish and Half Breed Con-
gans-'Let Every Kindred, Every Tribe,
Crown Him Lord of ALL"
An accident was accountable for our
Eojourn here The steamship Miranda
had run on sunken reef, and we had
put back to Sukkertoppen for relief.
The acquaintance of the Danish governor
and his assistant, with their wives and
families, had been made, and we had
been shown every courtesy and hospital
ity. The igloos or Eskimo huts had
been visited, and the faces and customs
of these peculiar people were becoming
more familiar, but Sunday we had
not yet experienced.
Ny journal for Sunday, Aug. II, re-
cords the following: We had breakfast
at this morning because of the neces-
saTy preparations to attend service at
the Eskimo church. 1 rowed ashore i'm
mediately after breakfast to interview
the governor and ascertain if it would
be agreeable for us to hold service that
evening at st. James church, the Es-
kimos having their services at 10 and
o'clock Mr.. Petersen, half breed
who had studied at Copenhagen for two
years, was summoned, and all due ar
rangements made Mr. Petersen and his
father, an old man with a kind face,
act as 'ay readers, a regular priest COM
ing once a year to administer the sacra
ment, confirm and marry. The service
is Lutheran. At 10 o'clock we were all
at the church to attend most curious
but reverently conducted service Mr..
Petersen, ST., officiated, and his son
played. The church is of stone, white
washed, with a wooden front, the wood
having been brought from Denmark, its
spire, surmounted by cross, showing
how in every tribe and kindred the
symbol of our religion is being uplifted
1t was not long ago that these people
were pagan, and many of them farther
north on the eastern coast still hold to
the crude faith of their forefathers.
About the doors of the church was
certainly strange gathering, the men
not very differently dressed from our
selves, except that some of them wore
trousers of sealskin and blouse of some
coarse material lined with seal and
short boot or killick of tanned leather;
the women-the married ones distin-
guished from the unmarried by wearing
a blue ribbon, the latter wearing red,
wound about peculiar fashion of head
dress-a loose fitting blouse with an
amowt or bag attached to the back for
carrying thier babies, broad beaded
necklace, short trousers of sealskin,
long boot decorated with bright strips
of leather and no hats. At the ringing
Of the second bell more church Corners
hurried from their little igloos. No one
entered the church until Mr.. Petersen
first went in. The front pews had been
reserved for US, and in our rear this
strange eongregation-the men on one
side and the women on the other-ar-
ranged themselves, the children sitting
in front of them, upon whom the watch
full eye could rest and interrupt any en-
thusiastic diversions from the service
itself A period of the most violent
coughing ensued, consumption being
common, a result of careless living and
the mixture of the Danish and Eskimo
races.
The interior of the church was neatly
painted in white and light blue, the
altar covered with cloth of red, with
fower-de-luce embroidered in gold. On
the altar were two eucharistic lights
and crucifix. Completing the chan
cells furnishings were the lectern and
old fashioned pulpit and small reed
organ. A stove in which peat is burned,
near the center of the nave, afforded
the necessary heat The service was be-
gun in low, fearful voice and main
tanned throughout in the same mono
tone. While nothing, of course, could
be understood by us, the service was
nevertheless impressive. A few opening
sentences were first read, then the
Lords Prayer. A chant followed, sung
in perfect harmony, but very slowly.
The Eskimos have good voices and an
excellent sense of harmony. 1t took Is
minutes to sing this chant. A chapter
was then read, after which, for the first
time, the congregation rose to repeat
some short versicle A very unimpas-
stoned sermon of % minutes was read,
during which one man hesitated not to
loudly snore. At the close of the sermon
they arose for the ascription. A hymn
followed, then prayer, and the grace,
and the service was ended.
At o'clock that evening we return
ed for our own service To my surprise
there were about 200 Eskimo waiting
around the church 1t was a most Gu
rious congregation and impressed me
singularly. In the front pews sat some
of our university professors, several
physicians, lawyers, men of business,
college students, the Danish governor,
his wife and family, the assistant gov
ernor and,his wife, about 80 of the Mi
randa's crew, and in the rear closely
seated together were the huskies, as.
these Eskimo are called, the peculiar
fashion of wearing the hair, with their
colored ribbons, producing a strange
effect. A sermon of Dr. Liddon's was
read. An Eskimo organist played the
hymns which l had arranged through
Mrs. Bistrup, the governors wife, as
interpreter, should be played in the or
der as marked when I shook my head.