Kodiak Daily Mirror - Daily newspaper of Kodiak, Alaska
  
Alutiiq Word of the Week
 
Alutiiq Word of the Week: Gold
Suulutaaq : Gold Kulutka suulutanek canamauq. : My ring is made of gold. The bedrock underlying the Kodiak Archipelago formed about seventy million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Geologists believe that Kodiak’s slates and greywackes developed on the South Pacific sea floor before rafting north on the earth’s crust to their current location. During this process, deposits of quartz were literally squi...
Jun 14, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 12 12 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Son-in-law
Nengauwaq : Son-in-law Gui nengauwangq’rtua. : I have a son–in-law. Alutiiqs use the term nengau’aq in a variety of ways. In some communities, it specifically means a son-in-law: the man who married your daughter. In others, the word is a general term for any man related by marriage. Whatever they are called, Alutiiq men know that when they marry an Alutiiq woman, they marry her family. The extended family is extr...
Jun 07, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 8 8 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Seine net
Kugyasiq; Kugu'asiq : Seine Net PaRaguutat kugyasinek aturtaartut. : The boats use seine nets. A seine is a weighted fishing net, designed to hang vertically in the water. Seines are among the fishing gear Alutiiqs have used to capture salmon for millennia. Historic accounts indicate that Alutiiq people wove their seines from animal sinew and attached bark floats and stone sinkers: ancient versions of the cork and...
May 31, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Outsider/Stranger
Allanertaq : Outsider / Stranger Allanertakiinga akgua’aq. : An outsider came to see me yesterday. Hosting guests was a sign of power and prosperity in Alutiiq communities. Each winter, as the sun sank below the horizon, wealthy families initiated festivals, inviting friends from their own community and neighboring villages to participate in feasting, dancing, singing, visiting, and gift-giving. Guests were anxiou...
May 24, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Whale blubber
Kiimaq: Whale blubber Akgua’aq kiimartullriakut.: We ate whale blubber yesterday. Blubber, the thick layer of fat that lies between a whale’s skin and its muscles, has important biological functions. Like all mammals, whales must maintain a warm body temperature. While swimming in icy waters, blubber keeps them warm by reducing the outward flow of heat; the colder the water, the thicker the layer of fat needs to b...
May 17, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 4 4 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Godparent
KRaasnaaq: Godparent KRaasnaat ag’inartut.: Godparents should be respected. Russian colonists introduced godparenting, a relationship between adults and children that has become second in importance only to parent-child bonds in Alutiiq communities. KRaasnaaq comes from a Russian word meaning “godparent.” Some Alutiiq speakers further differentiate between godmother and godfather with the alutiicized terms maamas...
May 10, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Bat
Keneryaq: Bat (animal) Aliktaanka keneryat.: The bats scare me. Bats are not widespread in Alaska. There are just five species of these small flying mammals found mostly in forested areas of southeast and south central Alaska, where trees provide good roosting places. The most common Alaskan variety is the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), which lives year round in the Kodiak region. Little brown bats live in s...
May 03, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 4 4 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Namesake
Aalukaq : Namesake Aalukaalitkiinga. : They named that person after me. In classical Alutiiq society, people accumulated names over their lifetimes, adding new titles to commemorate a deed or reflect a change in their social standing. Many babies were first named for a relative—a namesake—a practice that continues today. In Alutiiq communities, children often bear a parent’s name. Fathers and sons have identical n...
Apr 26, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 5 5 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: April 19
Nuus’niik; Anarwik: Outhouse Cuumi llami nuus’ningq’rllrit.: They used to have outhouses outside. In prehistoric times, going to the bathroom was a less private matter than it is today. Alutiiq families kept large wooden tubs near the doors of their houses to collect urine. Valued for its cleansing properties, Alutiiq women used urine to process hides. The ammonia in the urine broke down fat, leaving animal skins ...
Apr 19, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Alutiiq Word of the Week: Tree pitch
Angeq : Tree pitch Angermek aturtaakait nept’staliyakameng. : They used pitch to make glue. Alutiiq people used every part of the spruce tree, from its wood and roots to its needles and sticky pitch. When the bark of a spruce is ripped or cut, sap collects at the site of the injury. Alutiiqs recognize two different types of pitch, soft and hard, that form in a variety of colors: clear, white, yellow, pink, and ev...
Apr 12, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 4 4 recommendations | email to a friend
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