Morning-Unuaq

Unuami ilait suuget kuufiarturtaartut.—Some people always drink coffee in the morning.

The Alutiiq word unuaq means morning, but on Kodiak many speakers use it to specify early morning. Elders recall that one of the first important chores each morning was to start the household fire. Katya, an Elder from Karluk, describes her mother instructing her to build a fire. After she stacked the wood, she would look for a house with smoke coming from its chimney and run there to ask for an ember. Kind neighbors put a glowing coal in a special box and reminded her to shake it on the way home. This kept it from burning through the box. She would then drop the ember in the fire and it would start right up.

Early morning was also the time that men prepared for harvesting and travel. This might include taking a dip in a river or the ocean, watching the weather to consider upcoming conditions, and packing a kayak. In contrast, those departing on raids, completed their preparations the night before and left quickly and quietly, with only brief farewells.

In the Alutiiq language you can add a -u to the end of a noun that describes time to create a word that means the next occurrence of something. Add a -u to unuaq – morning, and it becomes unuaqu – tomorrow.

Alutiiq Museum

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