Aakanaq – Old Fish Aakanat amlertaartut uksuakaarmi. – Old spawned-out fish are plentiful in the early fall. After growing to full size in the ocean, salmon return to freshwater to spawn. This journey is physically taxing. Salmon stop eating when they enter streams, relying on their stores of fat for energy to swim, build nests, […]
Nuniaq – Old Harbor Nuniarmiuq-qaa ellpet? – Are you an Old Harbor person? The community of Old Harbor (Nuniaq) has its origins in the era of Russian conquest. In 1784, Russian traders massacred several hundred Alutiiq men, women, and children at Refuge Rock, a tiny island off the eastern coast of Sitkalidak Island. In Alutiiq, […]
Iqlluwista – Cheater / Trickster Iqlluwingnaqaaten. – He is trying to cheat you. Things are not always as they seem! This is a message found in many Alutiiq legends, which feature tales of trickery. Trusting people are fooled by the seemingly good intentions of others–betrayed by loved ones, tricked by friends, or cheated by strangers. […]
Llaatesurta – Weatherman Llaatsurtaallriit. – They used to be weathermen. Long before marine radios, the nightly, television weather report, weather apps and weather cams, Alutiiq people interpreted the weather by reading the wind, waves, clouds, and phase of the sun and moon. Shaman, men and women skilled at interacting with the unseen world, were weather […]