Urine — Etquq Cuumi tan’urat etquat aturtaakait. – They used to use boys’ urine before. Across Alaska, Native people used human urine for processing hides. In Alutiiq communities, urine was collected in wooden tubs stationed outside people’s houses. Hides were soaked in these tubs, where the ammonia acted as soap, breaking down fatty deposits clinging […]
Bear — Taquka’aq Taquka’at yugnitaaraat, “Suk.”, Taquka’at niugnitaaraat, “Suk.” – Bears always say “Person.” The brown or grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. The Kodiak Archipelago is home to more than three thousand of these enormous creatures, which have long been a source of food and raw materials for […]
Laundry — Iqaiyat Nukallpiat iqaiyaneq pingaktaan’tat. – Men don’t like to do laundry. The Alutiiq word for laundry comes from the word for dirt, iqaq, and literally means “dirties.” Anyone with a family knows that laundry is a never-ending chore, but in the days before modern washers and dryers, it was an exhausting, daylong project. Alutiiq […]
Trail, Road — Aprun, Apruteq Kuingtua aprutkun. – I am walking down the trail. Across the Kodiak Archipelago, trails help hikers travel overland through thick forests and dense brush. You can hike to the summit of Kashevaroff Mountain on a trail or follow the network of coastal paths that lead to Termination Point. Although animals, […]