QUNGUQ – GRAVE AATAMA QUNGUA NUNIAMI ET’UQ. – MY FATHER’S GRAVE IS IN OLD HARBOR. Death in classical Alutiiq society was a forty-day process of passing into the spirit world. When a person died, their body was washed by relatives and wrapped in skins. These were often old boat covers, or for wealthy individuals, […]
NASQULUT – BULL KELP NASQULUT TAK’UT. – THE BULL KELP ARE LONG. Bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) is a variety of seaweed with a long, hollow stem attached to a bulb with trailing leaves. This plant grows abundantly in Kodiak’s nearshore waters and has a one-year life cycle. Microscopic spores emitted in the fall live […]
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 […]