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Cama'i - Hello. The Alutiiq people are Native Alaskans. Their homeland stretches hundreds of miles across south central Alaska, from the rainforests of Prince William Sound to the windswept meadows of the Alaska Peninsula. The Kodiak archipelago lies at the heart of this region. Here, Alutiiqs have raised families for more than 7,500 years.
Anthropologists classify the Alutiiq people as Eskimo (see map). The Alutiiq language is part of a continuum of Native languages spoken from the Gulf of Alaska to Greenland, and the Alutiiq people share many cultural practices with the Yup'ik Eskimo of the Bering Sea. Yet, few Alutiiqs accept the term Eskimo. Kodiak's Native people prefer to call themselves Sugpiaq - a traditional designator for the people, Aleut - a term introduced by Russian traders, or Alutiiq - the Native way of saying Aleut. This practice reflects the uniqueness of Alutiiq culture. An abundance of natural resources, a dynamic environment, and continuous interaction with other peoples created a distinctive culture.
Today there are 1,700 Alutiiq people living in the Kodiak region. This exhibit illustrates their culture with contemporary photos. It portrays the continuities and changes in Native ways that characterize modern life. Alutiiq traditions have evolved over the millennia, and in the past 200 years, adapted to a succession fo European influences. Yet an Alutiiq way of living continues to thrive in Alaska. The Alutiiq story is one of endurance.
Photographs for this exhibit were contributed by Priscilla Russell, George Lewis, Ole Mahle, Marion Owen, and the Alutiiq Museum. Our thanks to the many Alutiiq people who permitted their images to be shown. The exhibit text was written with linguistic assistance from Mary Haakanson & Sperry Ash.
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Native Languages of Alaska Map
below is courtesy of the Alaska Native Language
Center University of Alaska Fairbanks
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Native Cultures of Alaska: The Alutiiq homeland follows the coast of the central Gulf of Alaska, and lies at the southern-most end of the Eskimo and Aleut world. The Kodiak archipelago is in the heart of this region, about 400km south of Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city.
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Qik'rtam Llanqani -
The Islands' Surroundings
The Kodiak archipelago is a large cluster of islands that stretches 283 km across the central Gulf of Alaska. Carved by glaciers, the region features steep-sided mountains and narrow coastal fjords. A warm coastal current flows through the islands, and storms from the North Pacific bring strong winds and heavy rain throughout the year.
Together, this landscape and its cool wet weather create abundant habitat for plants and animals. Kodiak lies at the western boundary of Alaska’s coastal rainforest. Sitka spruce trees cover her northern shores, while lush shrub thickets, rolling coastal meadows thrive in southern regions and alpine tundra blankets the highlands.
There are just six mammals indigenous to this land: brown bears, river otters, red foxes, ermines, brown bats and voles. Other species, including black-tailed deer, elk, reindeer, goat, beaver and hare, were introduced in the nineteenth century. Marine resources are dramatically more abundant. Baleen whales migrate past Kodiak each spring and fall, and toothed whales, sea lions, harbor seals, porpoises and dolphins thrive in coastal waters year round. Near shore residents also include a great variety of marine fish, sea birds and waterfowl, and the rocky coast is encrusted with shellfish and seaweeds.
 The Kodiak Mountains |
The Kodiak Mountains
Mountains rise more than 1,300 m out of the North Pacific Ocean to form
the Kodiak archipelago. The Alutiiq people have always built their
communities along the coast of this precipitous region, where resources
from both the land and the sea are easily harvested.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Afognak Island Forest
Sphagnum moss and Sitka spruce trees carpet Afognak, the second largest
island in the archipelago. This forest is only 800 years old, creeping
gradually southward from the northern end of the island. The forest
supplies timber and roots, resources that were once only available as
driftwood or through trade.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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 Afognak Island Forest
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 Winter in Akhiok |
Winter in Akhiok
Roy Rastopsoff scans the snow-dusted meadows near his Akhiok home. He
is one of a few young people who has chosen to stay in his community
and live off the land.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Storm Approaching Karluk
From October to April, violent storms pass through the Kodiak region
every four to five days, bringing high winds and heavy precipitation.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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 Storm Approaching Karluk
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 Kodiak Bears |
Kodiak Bears
There are roughly 3,000 brown bears in the Kodiak archipelago. Bears
were once a major source of food and raw materials. Although the
Alutiiq people may still hunt them, they are rarely taken. Today bears
are economically important for the tourists and sport hunters they
attract.
Photograph by Marion Owen
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Pacific Salmon
Every summer five varieties of Pacific Salmon - King or Chinook
(amasuuk), Red or Sockeye (niklliq), Pink or Humpy (amartuq), Silver or
Coho (qakiiyaq) and Dog or Chum (alimaq) - return to Kodiak to spawn.
Millions of fish enter streams providing abundance of food for people
and animals.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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 Pacific Salmon
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Sunget Nutaan -
People Now
What does it mean to be Alutiiq? The answers are as varied as the people. To many, Native identity is closely linked with family, one’s parents, grandparents and the deeper ancestral connections that bond people to past generations. Affiliation with a community and place are also important. Alutiiq people feel deep ties to their villages and to the lands where they hunt and fish.
Many Alutiiq people also identify with a Native corporation. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 established Native-governed corporations to manage money and lands returned by the US government. Today, the Kodiak Alutiiq are shareholders of Koniag Incorporated and six village level corporations. These businesses provide economic opportunities and benefits for their shareholders, and many are active in promoting heritage preservation.
In addition to Native ancestry, many Alutiiqs have Russian, Scandinavian, and American roots. Family names like Alexanderoff, Christiansen, and Johnson reflect the succession of immigrants that have contributed to Kodiak’s rich cultural history.
Whatever a person’s family, village or corporate affiliation, the Alutiiq people share the goal of preserving and promoting their heritage. Contact with Western cultures in the late eighteenth century began a process of acculturation that profoundly disrupted traditional practices. Today Alutiiq organizations lead summer camps, dance troupes, art workshops, language programs, classroom curricula, and archaeological projects to reawaken cultural traditions, promote pride in Native ancestry, and teach all people about the rich heritage of Kodiak’s original settlers.
The Kodiak Archipelago: The Kodiak Archipelago stretches 283km from north to south and 107km from east to west. Around this large region, the Alutiiq live in the City of Kodiak and in six small, rural villages - Ouzinkie, Port Lions, Larsen Bay, Karluk, Akhiok and Old Harbor. Accessible only by airplane or boat, these communities are all on the coast.
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 Larry Matfay |
Larry Matfay
An Elder and educator,
Mr. Larry Matfay (1907-1998) was recognized as the traditional
chief of Kodiak by many Alutiiq people. He was one of the first
to recognize that Alutiiq traditions were disappearing and needed
to be shared with youth. He spent much of his life reaching
out to young people with traditional stories, games and history
lessons.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Clyda Christensen
Elders like Clyda Christensen
pass Alutiiq unwritten traditions to the next generation, teaching
language, history, and values through lively stories and songs.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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 Clyda Christiansen |
 Karluk Village |
Karluk Village
Nestled on the bank of
the Karluk River, Kodiak’s most productive salmon stream, Karluk
is one of six remote Alutiiq villages. Each village has a public
school, a post office, an airstrip, a church and its own tribal
government.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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The City of Kodiak
Established by Russian
Fur traders in 1793, the City of Kodiak is the archipelago’s
population center with more than 12,000 residents. These residents
include many Alutiiq families as well as families of European,
Hispanic and Asian descent. Kodiak’s economy revolves around
fishing, logging, and tourism. The city is also home to the
largest Coast Guard base in the United States.
Photograph by George
Lewis
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 The City of Kodiak |
 Picking Cranberries |
Picking Cranberries
Sophie Katlenikoff and
her grandchild collect highbush cranberries. Gathering wild
foods remains a popular fall activity.
Photograph by Priscilla
Russell
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Steam Bathing
After a hard days work,
Alutiiq families rest in steam baths. Physically and spiritually
cleansing steam is produced by throwing cold water on hot rocks,
a tradition that is more than 3,000 years old.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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 Steam Bath |
 Kodiak Communities |
Community Celebrations
Children in Old Harbor
celebrate Independence Day with races, hopping on air-filled
fishing buoys. Modern community gatherings feature visiting,
gaming, joking, feasting, dancing, singing, gift giving and
praise for the divine, activities characteristic of Alutiiq
gatherings for millennia.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Cumillat
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People Long Ago
The origins of the Kodiak Alutiiq are as misty
as their coastal homeland. According to legend, Kodiak Islanders are
descended from a woman whose children were shunned from their home
on the Alaska Peninsula and dispersed widely. Archaeological data
also indicate that the Alutiiq came to Kodiak from the west about
7,500 years ago. Alutiiq prehistory is preserved in more than 1,000
archaeological sites. The region’s cool wet weather has protected
bone, antler, ivory, wood, and fiber artifacts from decay, and sheltered
the remains of houses, tents, weirs, quarries, trails and burials.
This wealth of prehistoric information illustrate
that Alutiiq societies developed from small, mobile hunting and gathering
bands to large, permanent communities ruled by a wealthy aristocratic
class. By A.D. 1200, Alutiiq societies flourished in every corner
of the Kodiak Archipelago. Archaeologists estimate that the Native
population may have reached 14,000, the size of Kodiak’s modern population.
People lived in large sod house villages, some devoted to sea mammal
hunting, others to salmon fishing. Each community had a hereditary
chief. By organizing the harvest of natural resources, participating
in extensive long distance exchange, conducting raids, and owning
slaves, these leaders maintained their status while providing for
the economic needs of their communities.
 islander |
Archaeology at Settlement
Point
For the past 20 years,
the Alutiiq people have been working with archaeologists to
unearth and study their past. At Settlement Point, on Afognak
Island, excavators revealed a sod house village dating to A.D.
1500.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Alutiiq Excavators
April Laktonen Counceller
assists with the investigation of an Alutiiq fish camp through
a college-level internship with the Alutiiq Museum.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Cape Alitak Petroglyphs
Human faces, animals and
geometric designs adorn boulders at Cape Alitak. These images
were pecked into the stone by ancient artists, perhaps as hunting
charms or territorial markers.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Sod House in Old Harbor
The traditional Alutiiq
house was a large, wood-framed structure built partially underground
and covered with a thick layer of insulating sod. Today, communities
build ciqlluaq as gathering places for education, celebration
and tourism.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Artifacts
A wooden
doll from Malina Creek, a prehistoric settlement on Afognak
Island, may be a child’s toy or a shaman’s tool. Such artifacts
are cared for by the Native community at the Alutiiq Museum
& Archaeological Repository, where they can be studied by students,
artists, scholars and visitors.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Pisurwit
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Gathering Foods
Harvesting wild foods is one of the most enduring
and beloved Native traditions. Like their ancestors, Alutiiqs continue
to hunt, fish and gather. The cycle of harvesting begins in spring,
as sea mammals follow fish and birds back to coastal waters. The Alutiiq
people pull halibut from the ocean floor, gather herring eggs, collect
gull eggs, and pursue seals and sea lions from skiffs. As summer progresses,
people pick wild vegetables and berries, and fish for red and pink
salmon in fresh water streams. Fall brings opportunities for duck
and ptarmigan hunting, and silver salmon fishing. People also hunt
the deer and elk introduced to Kodiak in the twentieth century. In
the stormy winter months, families transform this abundance of natural
foods into tasty dishes that are shared with friends and at gatherings.
Subsistence, however, is more than food. Many
Native people still make their living from the land. They fish commercially
for salmon and cod, halibut and crab. They work as foresters and land
managers. They act as hunting, fishing and sightseeing guides. And
they craft and sell artwork. Weavers fashion delicate baskets from
beach grass, sewers stitch hats from plush sea otter pelts, and carvers
create masks from driftwood. All of these activities are both economic
and spiritual, reflecting the deep ties Alutiiqs feel to the Kodiak
environment.
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Fishing
The crew of a Kodiak boat
fishes for crab. Many Alutiiq families make their living through
commercial fishing and fish processing.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Splitting
Mary Haakanson cleans
freshly caught salmon. Alutiiq families enjoy salmon roasted
with wild vegetables or baked in perok - a Russian-style fish
pie.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Processing
Lawrence Panamaroff fuels
his smokehouse where salmon are cured with smoldering alder
branches. Other fish are drying on open-air racks. Alutiiq families
process hundreds of salmon each summer for winter consumption.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Butchering
Sven Haakanson, Jr. butchers
a harbor seal. Sea mammals remain a critical economic resource
in the Kodiak region. Laws protect the rights of Native people
to hunt these animals for food and raw materials.
Photograph by Ole Mahle
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Collecting
Jake Charliaga pulls an
octopus from beneath a beach rock. Shellfish, intertidal creatures
and seaweed are popular foods. Elders say, "When the tide is
out, the table is set."
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Preserving
Phyllis Peterson holds a jar of berries
preserved in oil, a traditional way of storing summer foods.
In the past berries were stored in seal stomach containers
filled with seal oil.
Photograph by Priscilla Russell
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Preparing
Lucille Davis braids the intestines
of a seal, which will be fried and eaten. This is a rare but
popular dish.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Crafting
Young women chat and practice their
weaving skills, fashioning baskets from wild grasses.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Agayumasqaat
- Spirituality
Alutiiq spirituality is a combination of traditional
beliefs and Western religious practices. Following Alutiiq cosmology,
every object in the universe - living things, objects, places, and
natural phenomenon like the wind - has a human-like essence, a spirit
inside that is aware of human action. As such, reverence for the natural
world is an essential part of caring for human life. If a hunter is
wasteful or a child is disrespectful, the animals and plants necessary
for human existence will not give themselves to people.
Spiritual well-being also comes from perpetuating
Native traditions. From hunting and fishing, to singing, dancing and
drumming, Alutiiq people feel joy in expressing their identity and
participating in the activities that have sustained their communities
for millennia.
Spirituality is also expressed in churches.
Many Alutiiq adopted Russian Orthodoxy in the nineteenth century.
There is a Russian Orthodox church in each Native community and the
faithful continue to celebrate Easter, Christmas and the feast days
of beloved saints according to the Church’s Julian calendar. Other
Alutiiq people have joined protestant churches, reflecting the arrival
of Baptist and evangelical missionaries in the recent century.
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Karluk Chapel
The majority of Kodiak
Alutiiqs belong to the Orthodox faith, introduced by Russian
missionaries in the nineteenth century. The beautiful chapels
maintained in every Alutiiq community reflect allegiance to
the church. The Karluk chapel was built in 1888.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Cemetery at Old Harbor
Majestic mountains and
ocean waters are the setting for the Orthodox crosses and spirit
houses of Old Harbor’s cemetery.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Masked Revelers
Dressed in pillowcases
and rubber masks, revelers celebrate the new year. They travel
door-to-door performing for food and small gifts, a practice
that combines Alutiiq and Orthodox traditions. Masks were once
used in ceremonial performances to tell stories and communicate
with the powerful spirits that controlled life on Earth.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Drum Dance
Lori Pestrikoff dances
to the rhythmic beat of Marsha Parker's drum. Traditional dances
honor ancestors and appeal to the spirit world for future prosperity.
With the help of Elders, young people are learning and reinterpreting
the performances of their ancestors.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Artist's Offering
Marra Andrewvitch shares
a basket expertly twined from beach grass. Creative expression
is one way Alutiiq people celebrate their culture. Beautifully
crafted objects also show a reverence for the natural world
that is central to Alutiiq spirituality.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Spirit Camp
To learn more about Alutiiq
heritage, Kodiak youth attend Spirit camps. Campers from across
the archipelago travel to a remote location to participate in
subsistence activities, learn natural history & archaeology,
create artwork, practice the Alutiiq language, and share pride
in Native ancestry.
Alutiiq Museum Photo
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Patritasqat - Portraits
 Christine Von Scheele |
 Mr. Nelson |
 Kalya Christiansen at the Old Harbor Independence Day Celebration |
 Julia Pestrikoff |
 Clyda Christensen |
 Boys Play Tug O' War During Old Harbor Independence Day Celebration |
 Emily Bijoli |
 Girls Playing On The Beach |
 Peter Ignatin With Drum |
 Mara Andrewvitch |
 Mary Haakanson |
 Girl In Blue Jacket |
 Lucille Davis |
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