ISUWIQ – SEAL ISUWIQ PITURNIRTUQ. – THE SEAL TASTES GOOD. Kodiak’s sea mammals provided a variety of resources for Alutiiq people. Seals, sea lions, porpoises, and whales produced meat for food, oil for light, hides for boat coverings, and bone and sinew for tools. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were particularly important, because they were […]
To assist Alutiiq families with the preservation of their paper photographs the Alutiiq Museum is leading a Community Photo Archive project. In the coming months, museum staff members will work with tribal councils and community members to identify Alutiiq family photos, scan the images, and create digital copies to their owners. Staff members will […]
CUUTEQ – EAR CUUTENG’RTUQ ANGSQANEK. – HE HAS LARGE EARS. In classical Alutiiq society, people decorated their ears. Historic paintings and ancient drawings show both men and women wearing numerous strands of beads from their earlobes and the cartilage around the outer ears. Such jewelry helped to demonstrate a person’s identity—their family connections, age, […]
Before there were pick-up trucks, there was the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq angyaq (open boats). Crafted explicitly for heavy seas, and mass transportation, and made from local materials, these historic skin-covered boats were used in Sugpiaq society for harvesting and traveling. Angyaq were owned by families. The Alaska State Committee on Research honors the creativity, traditional ecological […]