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 […]
[content id=”79272″] 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 […]
Pluck — Meqciluku Saqul’aaq meqciraa. – She is plucking the duck. The Alutiiq verb meqciluku is commonly used to describe plucking the feathers from a bird. However, it can also mean to pull out hair or fur. This is the verb you would use to describe pulling caribou hair from a hide to use in embroidery or […]
Sitkalidak Island — Salliitaq, Saliitaq Agyunitua Saliitamen ernerpak. – I do not want to go to Sitkalidak Island today. Sitkalidak is the third largest island in the Kodiak region. Twenty-three miles long, this rugged, mountainous landform lies off the eastern coast of Kodiak Island. Sitkalidak covers 116 square miles with peaks up to 2200 feet tall and […]