Many of us are familiar with seeing Alutiiq words in our local media. From the welcoming Cama'i! in Kodiak travel brochures to the thank you Quyanaas appearing in the local newspaper, we are now accustomed to the growing presence of the Alutiiq language in Kodiak communities. Travelling exhibits with Alutiiq text have raised awareness. The most prolific project regarding the Alutiiq language, however, is the Alutiiq Word of the Week program, which has appeared on public radio KMXT , in the Kodiak Daily Mirror , at the Alutiiq Museum, on the internet, and has been emailed and faxed to all corners of the Alutiiq world.

The success of this program proves that there is a hunger for information about our Native language. But beyond the words and cultural lessons which are shared, there is little common knowledge about the language itself - the history, geneology and structure of Sugt'stun - the language of the Sugpiaq, or Alutiiq, people.

As many names have been used to refer to the Alutiiq people and language, it is useful to clarify this issue. Many people from Kodiak have or still consider themselves Aleut. This word has its roots in the Russian conquest of Alaska. Russian fur traders did not differentiate between the Natives of the Aleutian chain, who called themselves Unangan, and the Natives of Kodiak Island, who called themselves Sugpiaq (meaning "real person") or Qik'rtarmiuq (which means "island dweller"). Anthropologist Lydia Black believes that the word Aleut is a self-designator which comes from the Near Islands at the tip of the Aleutian chain (closest to Russia). Russian fur-traders used "Aleut" as a blanket term to designate all coastal Alaskan Native Peoples. Terms used for the Alutiiq People by the scientific community include: Pacific Yup'ik, Pacific Eskimo and Suk Eskimo.

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