Splash It– Ciqiluku Yaamat ciqiki. – Splash the rocks. It’s Saturday evening and curls of smoke drift from the small shed next to an Alutiiq home. It is banya night and a family has lit the woodstove in their bathhouse to heat rocks and water for washing. Inside, smooth, water-worn beach cobbles cover a stove fashioned […]
Wick–Kumaq Kumaq kuakaskameng tamleritaartuq. – The wick always gets black after it burns. Stone lamps filled with sea mammal oil once illuminated and heated Alutiiq homes with the aid of small wicks twisted from plant fibers. Many different plants could serve this purpose. Kodiak’s early Russian colonists noted lamps fitted with grass wicks. Alutiiq people also […]
Crab–Iwalrayak (N), Sakuuq (S) Aa’i, maani sakuut amlertaallrit. – Yeah, there used to be a lot of crab around here. Today, Alutiiq people enjoy eating dungeness, tanner, and king crab. But in the past, Kodiak’s Native people avoided these ocean scavengers. Crab live on the ocean floor where they eat carrion, including the corpses of […]
Refuge Rock, Fortress–Nagaayuq Nagaayuq Ikani et’uq. – There is a refuge rock over there. To protect their families from raiders, Alutiiq people built temporary settlements at the top of precipitous cliffs and small, rocky, cliff-bound islands. These strategically located refuges were designed to repel attackers. Here, families prepared shelters and stockpiled supplies. When communities […]