Wife-Nuliq Nulingr’tua.– I’ve got a wife. Everyone in Alutiiq society was expected to marry. Although marriages were not typically arranged, there were preferred marriage partners. According to anthropologist Birket-Smith, a young person was once particularly encouraged to marry a cousin. However, not all cousins were potential mates. Parallel cousins (your parents’ same-sex siblings’ children) were […]
The Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College have transferred ownership of an Alutiiq/Sugpiaq kayak to the Alutiiq Museum, a tribal repository and cultural center in Kodiak, Alaska. Made in the mid-19th century, the 14-and-a-half foot, skin-covered boat is a rare example of a complete ancestral kayak. This vessel has been at the center of a […]
Caribou, Reindeer-Tuntuq Tuntumek piturlita. – Let’s (all) eat some reindeer. Today, caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are only present in substantial numbers in a part of the Alutiiq homeland—the northern Alaska Peninsula. Here communities take advantage of seasonal migrations, harvesting animals as they move south to calving grounds in the spring and north to winter range in […]
Cursing / Cussing — Qanerluni, Qan’rluni Katallrianga kesiin qanernilngua! (N), Katallrianga kesiin qan’rnilngua! (S) – I fell but I didn’t cuss! Swearing is universal. Whether expressing anger, insult, shock, pain, or even pleasure, people worldwide have a tendency to use colorful terms. Profanity is popular, and it is probably as old as spoken language. Latin, […]