Gleipaq (N); Lliipaq (S); Gliipaq – Bread Gelipalikutartua. – I am going to make bread. Bread came to Kodiak with Russian traders, who imported flour and knowledge of baking. Yet baked goods appear to have been a luxury item in the early historic era. Historic accounts suggest that bread was in short supply, due to […]
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Nanook of the North (with DJ accompaniment), The Mouse That Roared, and Night of the Living Dead are among the classic 16mm films slated for screening in the Anchorage Museum auditorium at 7 p.m. Wednesdays from Oct. 12 through Dec. 21. Called Celluloid Wednesdays, this midweek film series co-sponsored by the museum […]
Ken’aayuq – Dena’ina Athabaskan Anaanarpet Ken’aayuq. – Our aunt is a Dena’ina Athabaskan. The Dena’ina are one of eleven Athabaskan Indian groups in Alaska. Their homeland includes the shores of Cook Inlet, interior regions of the Kenai Peninsula and the northern Alaska Peninsula, and the Matanuska and Susitna river valleys. The term Dena’ina means “the […]
Etquq – Urine Cuumi tan’urat etquat aturtaakait. – They used to use boys’ urine before. Across Alaska, Native people used human urine for processing hides. In Alutiiq communities, urine was collected in wooden tubs stationed outside people’s houses. Hides were soaked in these tubs, where the ammonia acted as soap, breaking down fatty deposits clinging […]