Teacher– Litnauwista, Uciitilaq Litnauwistarpet asirtuq. – Our teacher is good. Western-style teachers became part of the Kodiak landscape in the late eighteenth century, soon after the arrival of Russian fur traders. Although Alutiiq adults taught their children the skills they needed for life in the Alutiiq world, a small number of boys began to study […]
Bumblebee – Uuqutiiq Uuqutiit amlertut suitkaani. – There are a lot of bees on the flowers. Bumblebees play an important role in the ecology of Alaska’s terrestrial environments. The farther north you move, the fewer pollinators there are. In Alaska, bumblebees and hoverflies do much of the pollinating. Bumblebees have a furry, black-and yellow body […]
Splash It– Ciqiluku Yaamat ciqiki. – Splash the rocks. It’s Saturday evening and curls of smoke drift from the small shed next to an Alutiiq home. It is banya night and a family has lit the woodstove in their bathhouse to heat rocks and water for washing. Inside, smooth, water-worn beach cobbles cover a stove fashioned […]
Wick–Kumaq Kumaq kuakaskameng tamleritaartuq. – The wick always gets black after it burns. Stone lamps filled with sea mammal oil once illuminated and heated Alutiiq homes with the aid of small wicks twisted from plant fibers. Many different plants could serve this purpose. Kodiak’s early Russian colonists noted lamps fitted with grass wicks. Alutiiq people also […]