Akarngaluni–Round Mayaciik akagngauq.–The ball is round. In the Alutiiq language, the suffix -sqaq, meaning “thing,” can be added to an intransitive verb to create a noun. For example, add -sqaq to akagngaluni, a verb meaning “to be round,” and you get akagngasqaq, “a thing that is round.” To Alutiiq people the circle is a meaningful […]
A $5,000 grant to the Alutiiq Museum from The CIRI Foundation will support the development of Coloring Alutiiq, a coloring book featuring Alutiiq clothing and tools. The project, which begins in May, is a collaboration between the museum and Hanna Sholl. Sholl, a graphic artist and skin sewer, will create the illustrations working from photographs, […]
Ungalarmiut–Prince William Sound People Ungalarmiut yaksigtut.–People of Prince William Sound are far from here. Prince William Sound lies at the center of the Gulf of Alaska, between the Copper River delta and the Kenai Peninsula. Steep, glaciated mountains rim this wide, forested embayment, filled with fjords and islands. Like Kodiak, Prince William Sound is known […]
Sun’aa’aq–Young Person, Teen Sun’aa’rausqak Nuniami et’aarllriik.–These two, young people were in Old Harbor. All human societies recognize the teenage years as a time of transition, a period when young people grow from children into adults. Adolescence is also universally a period of preparation, where boys and girls are trained for marriage, child rearing, and work. […]