PUGTAQUTAQ – SEAL FLOAT, BUOY ISUWIM SUQANEK PUGTAQUTALITAARTUT. – THEY ALWAYS MAKE BOUYS OUT OF SEAL STOMACH. The Alutiiq word pugtaqutaq refers to a float, an object that provides buoyancy. Today, Alutiiq speakers use the term for marine buoys, life preservers, floatplane pontoons, or even the corks that line the top edge of a fish […]
AAQUYAQ – RIVER OTTER CUUMI NUKALLPIAQ AAQUYANEK PISURTAALLRIIT. – MEN BEFORE USED TO ALWAYS GO HUNTING FOR LAND OTTER. Kodiak is home to two varieties of otters, the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) that inhabits nearshore coastal waters, and the river otter (Lutra canadensis) that lives primarily in freshwater lakes and streams but ventures into saltwater […]
NAPAQ (SPRUCE); UQGWIK (DECIDUOUS) SUN’AMI MAANI NAPAT AMLERTUT, ANGSINARLUTENG CALI. KAL’UNI, LARSEN BAY-MI NAPAITAARTUKUT. – HERE IN KODIAK WE HAVE A LOT OF SPRUCE TREES AND TALL ONES, BUT IN KARLUK AND LARSEN BAY WE DON’T HAVE ANY. The Kodiak Archipelago lies at the ecological boundary of windswept coastal tundra and the foggy rainforests of […]
UUTUK – SEA URCHIN KASUKUAGMEN AGKUMA, UUTURSURCIQUA CALI. – WHEN I GO TO AKHIOK, I WILL GET SEA URCHINS, TOO. Sea urchins are echinoderms, spiny-skinned animals related to starfish and sea cucumbers. Kodiak is home to two varieties, the red urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and the green urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis). Both are about the size of […]