Kodiak Alutiiq Place Names

Explore Kodiak in Alutiiq

Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people named the geographical features in their world—bays, mountains, islands, streams, and much more. Place names passed down by Alutiiq speakers help us to see the landscape in an Alutiiq way.

Suyuraq— Shuyak Island

Apaamam Nanwarnaa – Portage Bay

Interactive Map

Zoom into the map below and click on an orange dot to visit places in the Kodiak Archipelago. Each dot opens a window with a link to an audio file of an Alutiiq speaker saying its Alutiiq place name. Many places also have a link to a photo from the museum’s collections.

The places names shared here were provided by Alutiiq community members, including Ephraim Agnot, Sr., Nick Alokli, Lawrence Ashouwak, Sally Carlough, Carl Christiansen, John Chya, Mary Haakanson, Sven Haakanson, Sr., Sven Haakanson, Jr., George Inga, Paul Kahutak, Dennis Knagin, Larry Matfay, Herman Malutin, Tania Malutin, Florence Pestrikoff, John Pestrikoff, Phyllis Peterson, Victor Peterson, Sophie Shepherd, Zoya Shugak, Walter Simeonoff, Bobby Stamp, Anakenti Zeedar, and Senafont Zeedar. These Elders and culture bearers worked with researchers and linguists, including Jeff Leer, Linda Yarborough, Laurie Mulcahy, Fred Clark, Dennis Griffin, and Matthew O’Leary.

Place Names Poster

This downloadable poster features fifty place names from the Kodiak Alutiiq/Sugpiaq world.

Produced by the Alutiiq Museum, 2023, with support from the Kodiak Island Borough School District READ Project. Kodiak Island painting by Bruce W. Nelson, courtesy of the Kodiak History Museum. Purchased with support from Rasmuson Foundation.

Download the Poster

Learn More

Carwarnengcuk – Afognak Bay

Places

Many places in the Alutiiq world are discussed in our Alutiiq Word of the Week lessons. Visit our searchable lesson archive and type in a place name – in Alutiiq or English – to learn more.

Word of the Week Archive

Villages

Learn about the fourteen 20th-century Alutiiq /Sugpiaq villages. This presentation includes a short summary of village history, an audio file with the Alutiiq village name, and photos.

Village Histories

Research

What conventions did Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people use in naming the places in their world? Dehrich Chya explored this question in his research on Kodiak place names.

Place Name Research

Produced with support from the Native Village of Afognak and the US Bureau of Indian Affairs with assistance from Mack Consulting.