Pimple — Pupik Pupika puksuwaqa. – I pinched my pimple. From pimples and boils to burns, sores, and rashes, skin irritations are a common problem. The Alutiiq word pupik can be used to describe all of these conditions. Early accounts of Alutiiq communities report that skin ulcers were widespread, often caused by insect bites. Alutiiq healers lanced boils […]
Iron — Cawik Cawik tamaani uyaqsami patam Kal’uni amlertaartut. – There is a lot of iron around at Larsen Bay and Karluk. Although metals were a rare material in Alutiiq communities before the historic era, they were not unknown. Kodiak Alutiiq people traded with the Chugach Alutiiq people of Prince William Sound for copper from […]
Cat — Kuskaq Kuskat qungutuartut.—Cats are pets. The lynx (Lynx canadensis) is the only species of wild cat found in Alaska and it is not indigenous to the Kodiak region. In the Alutiiq world, lynxes are found in the wooded environments of the northern Alaska Peninsula, Kenai Peninsula, and Prince William Sound. They subsist on […]
String, Twine — IRafkuruaq, IRafkungcuk, WiRufkuruaq IRafkuruanek initalitallriit. – They used string to make clothesline. String games like cats cradle are a popular pastime around the globe. From Australia to Asia, Africa, North America, and the high Arctic, people have long used a simple loop of string and their fingers to make designs. The function […]