Nanwalek–English Bay Kina nanwalegmek?–Who is from English Bay? The Alutiiq village of Nanwalek lies on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, just ten miles southwest of Seldovia. Although Alutiiq people have lived in this region for thousands of years, the community of Nanwalek began as a Russian trading post, built by fur traders in […]
Litnaurluni–Study Litnauryugtuci-qaa?–Do you all want to study? The study of Alutiiq heritage has changed dramatically in the past three centuries. In classical Alutiiq society, children learned the skills of adult life by working with and listening to family members. People with special gifts—artists, healers, shamans, tradition bearers, and politicians—apprenticed to accomplished community members to study […]
Amikuruaq (N), Utguiruaq (S)–Squid Amikuruanek piturtaartut cali.–Squid are eaten too. Squid, with their streamlined bodies and tentacled appendages, are cephalopods, related to the octopus. They are abundant in the Gulf of Alaska, where more than fifteen species of squid are known to thrive and others have moved north with recent changes in ocean environments. Aggressive […]
Caskaq–Cup Sarsataartukut caskagunk aturluku.–We drink our tea using a cup. Some historians believe that 1840 was a pivotal moment in Alutiiq history, a point where cultural change accelerated, with major shifts in Kodiak’s social and economic landscape. Devastated by the smallpox epidemic of 1837–1839, Kodiak’s Alutiiq communities reorganized into regional settlements, where survivors began to […]