KODIAK, Alaska—Archaeologists with the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository have uncovered fragments of woven grass artifacts estimated to be 3,000 years old. The rare finds were made on August 18, 2023, during excavations of an ancestral sod house on the shore of Karluk Lake, Kodiak Island, Alaska sponsored by Koniag. The fragments, which appear to […]
Dragonfly — Cilrayuk Cilrayuk alingtaakait. – They used to be afraid of the dragonfly. Did you know that Alaska has an official insect? In 1995, the state’s schoolchildren awarded the dragonfly this special honor. The four-spotted skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata) took the prize. Like the thirty other species of dragonflies in Alaska, this insect can eat […]
Dwarf, Magical Little Person — Sungcuk Maani tang’rtaan’itukut sungcunek. – We never see any (magical) dwarves around here. The Alutiiq world is full of magical beings—giants who transform themselves by spitting, people who live on the smell of meat, wily sea monsters, enormous man-worms, evil shaman’s helpers with pointed heads, and dwarves. All of these […]
Worm, Insect — Kinguk Tawa kingugturningaitua! – No, I won’t eat worms! Earthworms are relatively rare in Alaska. Despite the abundance and notoriety of their cousin the ice worm, earthworms do not thrive in acidic forest soils or in areas with extensively frozen ground. Of the 1,800 known species of earthworms, the only naturally occurring […]