Filipino — Filipiinaq Filipiinat taitaallriit kiagmi pekcaturluteng kaanaRimen. – The Filipino people used to come in the summer to work in the canneries. People of Filipino heritage have been part of Alaska history for over two hundred and thirty years. The first record of a Filipino person in Alaska is from 1788 when a man […]
Starfish — Agyaruaq Agyaruat irurtuut. – Starfish have many legs. Sea stars, commonly known as starfish, are abundant, colorful residents of Kodiak’s waters. There are numerous species, which can be found in almost any environment–from rocky shores to mudflats, and from tidal pools to deep marine waters. Sea stars are echinoderms–spiny skinned creatures related to […]
Pet — Qungutuwaq Qungutuwangq’rtua. – I have a pet. Qungutuwaq is the Alutiiq word for a tame animal. It likely began as a term for a wild animal habituated to people, but it has come to mean all kinds of pets. Tame animals, especially birds and dogs, were part of ancestral Alutiiq villages. Alutiiq people kept […]
Copper — Kanuyaq Kasaakat kanuyamek tait’llriit. – The Russians brought copper. Copper is one of the few metals that Alutiiq people used prehistorically. Artists ground copper oxide, a mineral available on southeastern Kodiak Island, to make pigment. However, they obtained copper suitable for tool manufacture in trade with the Alaska mainland, particularly the Kenai Peninsula […]