YAAMAQ – ROCK ISUWIQ YAAMAMEN MAYALLRIA. – THE SEAL CLIMBED UP THE ROCK. The Kodiak Archipelago is formed of intrusive igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks many millions of years old. Slate and shale, greywacke and granite are the stones that make up the island’s core, and they provided raw material for many traditional tools. […]
ISUWIQ – SEAL ISUWIQ PITURNIRTUQ. – THE SEAL TASTES GOOD. Kodiak’s sea mammals provided a variety of resources for Alutiiq people. Seals, sea lions, porpoises, and whales produced meat for food, oil for light, hides for boat coverings, and bone and sinew for tools. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were particularly important, because they were […]
CUUTEQ – EAR CUUTENG’RTUQ ANGSQANEK. – HE HAS LARGE EARS. In classical Alutiiq society, people decorated their ears. Historic paintings and ancient drawings show both men and women wearing numerous strands of beads from their earlobes and the cartilage around the outer ears. Such jewelry helped to demonstrate a person’s identity—their family connections, age, […]
URIITAQ – CHITON KASUKUAGMEN AGKUMA, URIITARSURCIQUA. – WHEN I GO TO AKHIOK I AM GOING TO GO GET SOME BIDARKIES (CHITONS). Kodiak’s intertidal fauna include a variety of chitons, a mollusk related to clams, snails, and limpets. Chitons have eight symmetrical, overlapping shell plates that cover a soft body and a large oval foot. […]