Hat — Saapeq; Slaapaq Cuumi taaten angutet slaapamek aturtaallriit.—Before, old men used to wear hats. Collections of traditional Alutiiq clothing are filled with hats. Wide-rimmed woven hats of spruce root; hunting visors bent from a single piece of wood; tall, embroidered skin hats; closely fitting fur caps; wooden helmets carved in the shape of a […]
Whale — Ar’uq, Arwaq (in Akhiok) Ar’ut amlertut. – There are many whales. Six species of baleen whales feed in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Alaska. Each spring, grey, humpback, minke, fin, right, and blue whales swim by on their way to the Bering Sea, although many remain in the Kodiak area. For […]
Gun-Nutek Taatillka nutengq’rtaallia. – My late father always had a gun. The Alutiiq word for gun, nutek, comes from the verb nutegluku, “to shoot it.” The first firearms Alutiiq people encountered were flintlock muskets imported by Russian traders. Stephen Glotov, who wintered in Alitak Bay in 1763, used musket fire to scare Alutiiq warriors attacking his ship. […]
Fermented oil, berry pulp & vegetables — Tugluq Tuglulitaallriakut puuc’kaami, piturluta ukuq nangluku. – We always used to make tugluq in barrels, and eat it all winter. There is no one English word that describes tugluq, a flavorful, traditional, Alutiiq dish. Like akutaq or ciitaq, tugluq was a mixture of ingredients tailored to the maker’s tastes and the availability of foods. […]