Alutiiq Word of the Week

Alutiiq people have long located their settlements in places that provide safe access to the ocean. In Kodiak’s stormy climate, the ability to launch and land boats is essential for people who hunt, fish, and work on the water. With the notable exception of fort sites, villages purposefully located on exposed, precipitous sea stacks, Alutiiq ancestors built their communities beside beaches suitable for use by skin boats.

Water access continues to be important to Alutiiq communities, particularly those that are not accessible by road. Cargo, fuel, and visitors arrive in rural villages by the water, brought by barge services that are less expensive than air charters. Rural harbors also provide safe moorage for boaters during periods of bad weather and support commercial fishing, subsistence activities, recreation, and staging for emergency operations. As such, small boat harbors are part of essential infrastructure. The Port Lions waterfront features the Russell Gundersen Sr. Small Boat Harbor and a city dock and terminal that can serve the state ferry and cruise ships. You will also find small boat harbors in Larsen Bay, Old Harbor, and Ouzinkie.

The Alutiiq words for harbor come from terms for an anchorage—bights and coves where boats can hide from heavy seas. Kangiyangcuk means small bay and kicarwik means a place to anchor. These terms have come to mean harbor.