Milk — Muluk’uuq (N), Muruk’uuq (S) KuRuuwamek muluk’uungtaartutkut. – We get milk from a cow. Milk is a relatively recent addition to the Alutiiq diet, a fact illustrated by the Russian derivation of the Alutiiq words for milk. Although midwives brewed a tea from pineapple weed to stimulate the production of a new mother’s milk, […]
Rudder — ARulaq Anguamek aRulallrianga.—I used a paddle as a rudder (to steer). There are many types of rudders found in boat designs around the world and they are all important parts of a boat’s steering system. A rudder is often a vertical blade attached to a boat’s transom, the flat end of the stern. […]
New Year’s Eve — Nuuwikuutam Maqin’ra (N), Snuuwikuutam Maqin’ra (S), Nuta’aq uksugkam Maqin’ra Ernerpak nuta’aq uksugkam Maqin’ra. – Today is New Year’s Eve. A favorite Kodiak New Year’s tradition is the annual masquerade ball. This celebration of renewal occurs on January 14, New Years Day on the Julian Calendar that tracks the Orthodox year. The […]
Pet — Qungutuwaq Qungutuwangq’rtua. – I have a pet. Qungutuwaq is the Alutiiq word for a tame animal. It likely began as a term for a wild animal habituated to people, but it has come to mean all kinds of pets. Tame animals, especially birds and dogs, were part of ancestral Alutiiq villages. Alutiiq people kept […]