Angyaq—Open Skin Boat Angyakun aiwikutartukut.—We are going (away) by open boat. The Alutiiq angyaq is a large open boat much like the umiak of northern Alaska. These twenty- to thirty-five-foot vessels were used for traveling and trading and could hold up to twenty people. They had a sturdy driftwood frame covered with sea lion skins […]
Cingiyaq–Chiniak Cingiyaq yaqsigtuq Sun’amek kaarakun.–Chiniak is far from Kodiak by car. Follow the highway forty-five miles southeast of the city of Kodiak and you will arrive in Chiniak, a small, unincorporated community with a population of about fifty. Although people have lived in the Chiniak area for millennia, the current town developed after the Second […]
Kal’ut, Kal’uq–Karluk Kal’uni sullianga.–I was born in Karluk. The Alutiiq village of Karluk lies on the southwestern shore of Kodiak Island. Tucked between treeless rolling hills, the community rests on the banks of Karluk River. This is the longest fresh watercourse in the archipelago and once was the region’s most productive salmon stream. All five […]
Nanwam Ancia–Dolly Varden Nanwam ancii miktaartut.–Lake trout are always small. Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma Walbaum) belong to a group of fishes called char. The light spots on their sides distinguish dollys from most trout and salmon, which are usually black spotted or speckled. There are two varieties of Dolly Varden in Alaska waters. The southern […]