NUYAT – HAIR SUK UKSURTUWIQAMI NUYAI QAT’RITAARTUT. – WHEN A PERSON GETS TO BE AN ELDER THEIR HAIR TURNS GRAY (WHITE). Before the adoption of western hairstyles in the mid-nineteenth century, Alutiiq men and women wore their hair long. Men typically cut their hair at the shoulders and braided it. Women cut bangs across their […]
KAKIWIK – SEWING BAG MINGQUN KAKIWIGMI ET’UQ. – THE NEEDLE IS IN THE SEWING BAG. Alutiiq women are known for their sewing skill. In ancient times, they used delicate ivory and bird bone needles, bird bone awls, and wooden spools of animal sinew to stitch fine clothing. Their tools were stored in sewing bags with […]
IRALUQ – MOON UNUGPAK IRALUQ TATARTUQ. – TONIGHT THE MOON IS FULL. In classical Alutiiq cosmology, there are five sky worlds, layered one on top of the other. The fifth sky world, farthest from earth, is the most pure. This is the home of Llam Sua, the Alutiiq supreme being. The first sky world, […]
UNUGTUARAA – FRAZER LAKE PISURYARTAALLRIIT UNUGTUARAAMEN. – THEY USED TO GO FRAZER LAKE TO HUNT. Frazer Lake is a long, narrow body of water surrounded by the steep mountains of south central Kodiak Island. It lies between Karluk Lake and Red Lake and drains south into Olga Bay through Dog Salmon Creek. Although home […]