Amikuq (n), Utguiq (S) – Octopus Utguit yaamat acaatni etaartut. – Octopus are always (located) under rocks. Kodiak’s rocky shores are home to a variety of octopi. These shy creatures live in deep intertidal and shallow subtidal environments and are commonly found beneath rocks. Octopus can weigh over forty pounds. They capture fish, shellfish, and crab, which […]
PUGTAQUTAQ – SEAL FLOAT, BUOY ISUWIM SUQANEK PUGTAQUTALITAARTUT. – THEY ALWAYS MAKE BOUYS OUT OF SEAL STOMACH. The Alutiiq word pugtaqutaq refers to a float, an object that provides buoyancy. Today, Alutiiq speakers use the term for marine buoys, life preservers, floatplane pontoons, or even the corks that line the top edge of a fish […]
NAPAQ (SPRUCE); UQGWIK (DECIDUOUS) SUN’AMI MAANI NAPAT AMLERTUT, ANGSINARLUTENG CALI. KAL’UNI, LARSEN BAY-MI NAPAITAARTUKUT. – HERE IN KODIAK WE HAVE A LOT OF SPRUCE TREES AND TALL ONES, BUT IN KARLUK AND LARSEN BAY WE DON’T HAVE ANY. The Kodiak Archipelago lies at the ecological boundary of windswept coastal tundra and the foggy rainforests of […]
UUTUK – SEA URCHIN KASUKUAGMEN AGKUMA, UUTURSURCIQUA CALI. – WHEN I GO TO AKHIOK, I WILL GET SEA URCHINS, TOO. Sea urchins are echinoderms, spiny-skinned animals related to starfish and sea cucumbers. Kodiak is home to two varieties, the red urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and the green urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis). Both are about the size of […]
AGASUUQ – CORMORANT AGASUUT MAANI CALI AMLERTAARTUT. – THERE ARE ALWAYS A LOT OF CORMORANTS AROUND HERE. Four varieties of cormorants (Phalacrocorax spp.) live in Alaska, three in the Kodiak Archipelago. These are the double-crested cormorant, the pelagic cormorant, and the red-faced cormorant. These birds gather in coastal colonies where they feed on fish and crustaceans […]
INARTAQ – BASKET INARTAMEK PILIYUQ. – SHE’S MAKING A BASKET. Very few classic Alutiiq baskets are preserved today. Museums around the world hold just a handful of ethnographic and archaeological examples of this beautiful and functionally important art. Despite their rarity, baskets were an integral part of Alutiiq household equipment. They held small objects; were […]
KRIISAQ (N), UGNA’AQ (S) – VOLE / MOUSE KAUGYA’AT UGNA’ANEK NERTAARTUT. – FOXES EAT VOLES. The northern vole (Microtus oeconomus), also known as the tundra vole or root vole, is one of Kodiak’s original residents. This small rodent feeds primarily on the bark and roots of plants, particularly sedges and cotton grass. In search of […]
KAKANGAQ – DISC GAME KAKANGAT WAMQUTAQTAAKAI LARRY MATFAY-M. – LARRY MATFAY USED TO PLAY DISC GAMES. In the Alutiiq gambling game kakangaq, players throw disks at a small wooden target placed on a sealskin ten or twelve feet away. The object is to cover the target with a disk. This game can be played by […]
WAA’UT PITURNIRTAARTUT MIKELNGUT. – THE SMALL FLOUNDERS ARE TASTY. The starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus) is an abundant, bottom-dwelling fish found in Kodiak’s shallow ocean waters, brackish estuaries, and even intertidal areas of rivers. Like halibut, flounder have both eyes on one side of their head. The eye side of the flounder is typically brown or […]