AMIQ – SKIN/HIDE ARHANEK AMIIRTAALLRIIT, TAUMI-LLU ATKULILUTENG. – THEY USED TO SKIN SEA OTTERS AND THEN MAKE COATS OUT OF THEM. Across the Alutiiq world, animal hides were once essential material for clothing, bedding, and boats. Alutiiq people stitched cormorant and caribou skins into parkas, wrapped their families in plush bear hides for sleeping, and […]
SIGTUNAQ – SITKINAK ISLAND ARWEGET SIGTUNAMEN AG’UT. – THE WHALES ARE SWIMMING TO SITKINAK ISLAND. Sitkinak is one of the Trinity Islands, a group of three large, windswept, grassy islands off the southern coast of Kodiak. Sitkinak is the largest. It stretches about 30 km east to west, forming the southern boundary of Sitkinak Strait. […]
UNUK – NIGHT AGYAT AKIRTAARTUT UNUGMI. – THE STARS ARE BRIGHT AT NIGHT. In the northern hemisphere, the autumnal equinox is the September day when the sun shines directly on the Earth’s equator, creating roughly equal periods of light and darkness. The equinox is the official first day of fall. In Alaska, however, the season […]
QUIRIQ – HOARY MARMOT QUIRIT QUILITARTUT. – MARMOTS ARE FAT. The Alutiiq word for marmot may come from quili- a root word meaning fat. This in an apt description. Hoary marmots are the largest member of the squirrel family. These plump mammals that can weigh over ten pounds and eat heartily during the summer to fatten up […]