Cockle, Clam — Qahmaquq, Mamaayaq Qahmaquryugtua. – I want some cockles. Kodiak’s shores are encrusted with a wealth of intertidal organisms. Clams, cockles, whelks, mussels, sea urchins, chitons, limpets, and periwinkles are all available in quantities. Alutiiq people harvested these resources throughout the year, but they were particularly important in the late winter and early […]
Dead — Tuqumaluni Iqallut tuqumaut. – The fish are dead. Death in traditional Alutiiq society was followed by a set of rituals that moved the deceased from daily life to the afterlife. In the Alutiiq universe, people were reincarnated five times. After their fifth and final death, the human soul ascended to the fifth of […]
Dangerous — Uluranaq TRaapat allrani uluranartaartut. – Ladders are sometimes dangerous. Danger is a recurring theme in the modern place names of the Kodiak Archipelago. Terror Bay, Stormy Point, Tombstone Rocks, Dark Passage, Dangerous Cape, Shark Point, Deadman Bay, and Danger Bay are some of the place names that have made their way to modern […]
African-American Person — Alap’aaq, ARap’aaq Alap’aaq Nuniamen taillria. – An African-American person came to Old Harbor. African American people began living and working in Alaska in the late nineteenth century. Although their history in the Far North is poorly documented, they came to harvest natural resources and to work for government agencies like other colonists. […]