Clean (to be) — Perinani; Eprinani Nateq eprituq.—The floor is clean. The Alutiiq word for clean comes from the root word pere– which means to be filthy! Add a negative post base and you get perinani, to not be filthy. This verb means to be clean. It is not used for the act of cleaning, but rather […]
Rose Hip — Qelempaq April-rem qelempaq caayuq pingaktaaraa. – April likes the rose hip tea. The Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) is a spindly shrub that grows in open areas throughout coastal Alaska. It is commonly found along streams and shorelines and in meadows, thickets, and open forests. These prickly bushes flower with pink blossoms each […]
Cockle, Clam — Qahmaquq, Mamaayaq Qahmaquryugtua. – I want some cockles. Kodiak’s shores are encrusted with a wealth of intertidal organisms. Clams, cockles, whelks, mussels, sea urchins, chitons, limpets, and periwinkles are all available in quantities. Alutiiq people harvested these resources throughout the year, but they were particularly important in the late winter and early […]
Dead — Tuqumaluni Iqallut tuqumaut. – The fish are dead. Death in traditional Alutiiq society was followed by a set of rituals that moved the deceased from daily life to the afterlife. In the Alutiiq universe, people were reincarnated five times. After their fifth and final death, the human soul ascended to the fifth of […]