Christian Klengenberg

Christian Klengenberg
Charlie Klengenberg on board his ship in 1924
Born	(1869-12-21)December 21, 1869 Svendborg, Funen, Denmark
Died	May 4, 1931(1931-05-04) (aged 61) Vancouver, Canada
Other names	Christian Klengenberg Jørgensen
Occupation	Whaler, trapper, trader
Known for	Opening trade routes to the Copper Inuit territory

Christian Klengenberg Jorgensen (Danish: Christian Klengenberg Jørgensen) (21 December 1869 – 4 May 1931), was a Danish whaler, trapper, and trader, active for 34 years in Alaska (Point Hope and Barrow) and Northern Canada (Herschel Island, the Coronation Gulf, and Victoria Island). He is notable for opening trade routes to the Copper Inuit territory. Klengenberg is also credited with the discovery of Blond Eskimo and recounting his experience to the anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson who went on to publish about their existence.

Born in Svendborg, Funen, Denmark, his parents were Jørgen Christian Jørgensen (1836–1906), a soldier, cabinet maker, and wood carver, and Caroline Sofie Møller (born 1840), a Viking. He was one of eight children. Klengenberg also had eight half siblings from his father's second marriage to Margrethe Marie Gielster. Though confirmed in the Lutheran Church, his spiritual beliefs were more in common with Wodin and Thor, having learned of them from his mother.

Klengenberg began his seagoing career at age 16 as a cook's assistant on the Iceland, bound from Sweden to New York City. As a ship's cook, his travels took him to Russia, Australia, Scotland, as well as Honolulu, and the Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California. In 1893, he arrived at the Inupiat village of Point Hope on the Emily Schroeder. It was here that he met his future wife, Gremnia, a Tikigaq from Tigerah (Point Hope), Noatak-Kobuk, Alaska.