PRiis’tanaq – Dock PaRaguutat pRiistananun taitaartut. – The boats come to the dock. (Click sentence to hear Alutiiq words spoken.) In Alutiiq communities, where boats are essential for travel, subsistence activities, and work at sea, docks are a necessity. Although Alutiiqs once landed their skin-covered boats on the beach and stored them around their […]
Camani – Lower Forty-Eight States Camani ilangq’rtuanga. – I have family in the Lower Forty-eight. (Click sentence to hear Alutiiq words spoken) When Alutiiqs speakers talk about the continental United States they use the word camani, which literally means “down there.” In Alaska, the English equivalent is “the Lower Forty-eight.” Despite the separation between Alaska […]
Paulaq; Peluq – Ash Paulartuu’uq plit’aami. – There are lots of ashes in the stove. (Click sentence to hear Alutiiq words spoken) The Alutiiq word for ash—paulaq or peluq—usually refers to wood ash. This is the fine, grey sediment found in the bottom of a fire pit or a wood burning stove after a hot […]
Eprirturluni, P’rirca’iluni – Clean; Cleanse Plit’aaq p’rirca’iru. – Clean the stove. (Click on sentence to hear Alutiiq words spoken) In classical Alutiiq society, house cleaning was both a daily activity and a scheduled spring event. Historic sources and the accounts of Elders indicate that people swept their sod houses with brooms made of eagle wings […]