Puyurniq – Nagoonberry Puyurnit piturnirtaartut. – Nagoonberries always taste good. Commonly known as the wild raspberry, or arctic raspberry, the nagoonberry (Rubus arcticus) is a low-growing plant that bears a sweet, dark red, segmented, raspberry-like fruit. On Kodiak, Alutiiq people use the same term for nagoonberry and raspberry, illustrating the similarity between this indigenous fruit […]
Qepel’ut – Maggots Qepel’ugaa iqalluk. – The fish is getting “maggoty.” Flies are part of summer in Alaska, and where there are flies, there are maggots. Biologists break the life cycle of the fly (Diptera) into four stages. The life of a fly begins when a female lays an egg. Within 24 hours the egg […]
Ayaquq – Harpoon Ayaqut egtaakait arwanun cuumi. – They used to throw a harpoon at a whale before. For thousands of years Alutiiq people used harpoons to hunt sea mammals in Kodiak’s rich marine waters. Harpoon points were carved from bone and fitted into a wooden shaft equipped with an air-filled float. Alutiiq people used […]
KaanaRiim laaf’kaa’a – Cannery Store KaanaRiim laugkaa’a patumataartuq uksumi. – The cannery store is always closed in the winter time. Alutiiq families living in rural communities supplement their catches of fish and game with groceries purchased from privately run community stores or shipped by air from big chain supermarkets in Kodiak. In the past, however, […]