Iqmik – Snuff; Chewing Tobacco; SnooseTobacco, paulamek, cayumek ilaluku, taumi mililuku, tawaten iqmilitaallriit. – Add tobacco, ashes, and tea, then grind it. We used to make snuff like that. By 1840, trade goods from Asia and Europe were reaching Alaska in large quantities, supplied by merchants in Siberian ports and Hudson’s Bay Company outposts in […]
Aa’icagaq – Little Cute OneElltuwaqa aa’icagamek ap’rtaaqa. – I call my granddaughter “little cute one.” The Alutiiq word aa’icagaq is a common term of endearment that means “little cute one”—similar to “sweetie” or “cutie pie” in English. People use this word when speaking to or describing children. You might say, “Come here aa’icagaq” to your […]
Qapuk – BubbleArhnam qapuwait pugtartaartut. – Sea otter’s bubbles always float up. In the Alutiiq language, the term qapuk has several meanings. It can be used to describe froth, foam, or scum–like a film of algae that forms over a pond, or the layer of scum the rises to the top of a pot when […]
In 1869, a US Army officer left Alaska with a piece of Alutiiq culture, a skin covered kayak. Now, almost 150 years later, the boat has returned to Kodiak to share its story. The watercraft is a one-man, Alutiiq kayak with an intact, decorated skin cover. Culture bearers Ronnie Lind and Sven Haakanson Jr. recognized […]