Dragonfly — Cilrayuk Cilrayuk alingtaakait. – They used to be afraid of the dragonfly. Did you know that Alaska has an official insect? In 1995, the state’s schoolchildren awarded the dragonfly this special honor. The four-spotted skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata) took the prize. Like the thirty other species of dragonflies in Alaska, this insect can eat […]
Dwarf, Magical Little Person — Sungcuk Maani tang’rtaan’itukut sungcunek. – We never see any (magical) dwarves around here. The Alutiiq world is full of magical beings—giants who transform themselves by spitting, people who live on the smell of meat, wily sea monsters, enormous man-worms, evil shaman’s helpers with pointed heads, and dwarves. All of these […]
Worm, Insect — Kinguk Tawa kingugturningaitua! – No, I won’t eat worms! Earthworms are relatively rare in Alaska. Despite the abundance and notoriety of their cousin the ice worm, earthworms do not thrive in acidic forest soils or in areas with extensively frozen ground. Of the 1,800 known species of earthworms, the only naturally occurring […]
Devil — Iraq Iraq asillpiarluni asiituq. – The Devil is very bad. In Alutiiq society, the word iraq translates as demon or devil, and once referred to the soul of an evil person. According to Alutiiq cosmology, instead of ascending to the sky world after death, like the souls of kind people, the souls of the evil […]