Unigkuaq – Legend; Fairy TaleCuumi unigkuarngutaallriit. – Before they always used to tell (legends) fairy tale stories. In the English language the word “story” is a broad term that can be used to describe many different types of tales, from fairy tales to newspaper articles. Not so in the Alutiiq language, where there are distinct […]
K’ligluku – Carve It Qupuraq k’liaqa. – I am carving the wood. Carving was once a daily act in Alutiiq communities. Native craftsmen made weapons: shafts, arrows and harpoons, split timbers to build houses and boats, and chiseled images into wood. Through woodworking, Alutiiq people produced many of the tools essential for daily life and […]
Sapurluni – Blocked Sapuraanga. – I am weathered in. (literally, “It blocked me.”) The Alutiiq verb sapuluku literally means, “to block it”: to physically obstruct something or someone. For example, you could use this word on your boat, when a very low tide kept you from traveling through a channel, or to indicate that locked […]
Iraq – Devil Iraq asillpiarluni asiituq. – The Devil is very bad. In Alutiiq society, the word iraq translates as demon or devil, and once referred to the soul of an evil person. According to Alutiiq cosmology, instead of ascending to the sky world after death, like the souls of kind people, the souls of […]