Matarngasqat; Matarngat; Mataryat–Indians (of the Lower 48) Matarngasqat Camani amlertut.–There are a lot of Indians in the Lower Forty-eight. When Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean in 1492, he mistook the Bahamas for India and called the indigenous people he encountered Indians. The term has since come to mean an indigenous person of North America, […]
Uguaq–Ugak Island PaRaguutakun uguaq kiturtaarpet.–We always pass Ugak island on the boat. Ugak Island lies at the entrance to Ugak Bay, on the far eastern edge of Kodiak Island. Exposed to the open ocean, Ugak Island is small and mountainous. It is just 2.7 by 1.7 miles, and yet rises to over three hundred feet […]
Kulic’kiiq–Snipe Kulic’kiit miktut, kesiin piturnirtut.–Snipes are small but they taste good. The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) is a shorebird found around Kodiak’s grassy coastal meadows, ponds, and fields during summer. This member of the sandpiper family breeds yearly across northern North America, then heads south to winter in warmer climates. A small bird, snipes have […]
Akarngaluni–Round Mayaciik akagngauq.–The ball is round. In the Alutiiq language, the suffix -sqaq, meaning “thing,” can be added to an intransitive verb to create a noun. For example, add -sqaq to akagngaluni, a verb meaning “to be round,” and you get akagngasqaq, “a thing that is round.” To Alutiiq people the circle is a meaningful […]