Maqaq – DiceKita, Maqarlinuk. – Come on! Let’s (two of us) play dice. Dice games are very common across North America. Native societies from New England to the Pacific Northwest enjoy tossing small objects in games of chance. Russian traders recorded an Alutiiq dice game they called stopka, where players tossed a small figurine carved […]
Iingalarsuutek – Snow GogglesIingalarsuutegken aturkek. – Use your snow goggles. Although snow can provides a helpful surface for traveling, transporting goods, and tracking animals, it also presents challenges. One of these is snow blindness. The bright reflection of the sun’s ultra violet rays off the snow’s white surface can damage a traveler’s eyes. Known as […]
CaRniilalirluku – Hinge, to makeARapamek aturluteng caRniilalitaarlliit. – They used to use rubber boots to make hinges. Building Alutiiq words is a bit like a math equation. Alutiiq is an agglutinative language, which means that words are formed by adding word parts together. Alutiiq grammar is complex, but it is very standardized. Once you know […]
Laatanaq – IncenseAgayuwigmi laatanamek aturtaartut. – They use incense at the church. Incense is an integral part of Russian Orthodox Church services. Attend worship in a Kodiak church and you will see the priest swinging an ornate metal censer. As he venerates the four sides of the altar, smoke wafts from the censer, filling the […]
Cuumillat; Cuuliallrat; Cuulirat – AncestorsCuumillat lisngataallit. – The ancestors were very learned. Concepts of time differ between societies. Western cultures think of time as linear and progressive: species evolve, investments grow, technologies develop, and the past is often seen as outdated or quaint. To many Native people, including Alutiiqs, time is more circular and fluid. […]
Maqineq – Week; Saturday, Holiday EveMaqineq nangkan, tang’rciqamci. – After the week is over, I’ll see you guys. All human societies have systems of reckoning time, ways of accounting for the sequence and duration of events. However, concepts of time vary greatly with cultural and environmental factors. The places people live, the technologies they use, […]
Cauyaq – Drum; MusicCauyaq nitniqgu. – Listen to the drum. In the traditional Alutiiq language, the word for drum and music are the same: cauyaq. This duality illustrates the importance of drums to traditional Alutiiq music. Although Alutiiqs also perform with rattles and whistles, the drum, with its penetrating beat, is their main instrument. Drumming […]
PiRuq – Perok; Fish PiePiRuq piturnirtuq. – Perok tastes good. Alutiiq cuisine, like Alutiiq culture, is a mixture of Native and European traditions that reflects Kodiak’s rich cultural history. Foods inspired by Russian culture can be found on many Alutiiq tables: berry tarts in the summer, sweet kulich bread at Easter, and perok throughout the […]
Igu’urluku – BuyKaaRamek igu’ullianga. – I bought a car. Before the development of a western cash economy, Kodiak’s Alutiiq people obtained many of the foods and materials they needed through trade. In good weather, men traveled by skin boat to communities to share their surplus goods and barter for items. Trade with the Alaska mainland […]