Alutiiq Word of the Week

Alutiiq Word of the Week

Lessons in Language and Culture

Weekly lessons on all things Alutiiq! Explore Alutiiq vocabulary and a wealth of cultural information.

Featuring the wisdom of Elders Nick Alokli, Florence Pestrikoff, Sophie Shepherd, and Victor Peterson. Hosted by Dehrich Chya, April Laktonen Counceller, Marya Halvorsen, and Michael Bach.

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This Week’s Lesson

Fishing Boat
Photo:  The Nirvana, a salmon seiner from Uganik Bay, at work in the waters off Kodiak Island. Chadwick Collection.
Word & Sentence
Fishing Boat — Parag’autaq (N), Parag’uutaq (S)
Kugyasigciqukut parag’uutakun. – We are going to go fishing (seining) on the boat.

Visit any dock in the Kodiak Archipelago and you will find an array of fishing vessels. Skiffs, seiners, tenders, and crabbers are part of the rhythm of life in Kodiak and its Alutiiq communities.

Over the centuries, Alutiiq people have used many types of fishing boats. Before the ar...

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Word of the Week Archive
Word of the week voices and advisors
From left, April Counceller, Florence Pestrikof, Sophie Shepherd, and Nick Alokli, word of the week voices and advisors, sign copies of the Alutiiq Word of the Week book, 2012.
From A to Y (accordion to yeast!), there are 679 lessons in our searchable Word of the Week archive. Learn about the Alutiiq world, practice word pronunciation, and share lessons with family and friends. Type a topic in the search box to start exploring. Developed with a grant to Koniag from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
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Recording the Podcast
Dehrich Chya records a podcast at the Alutiiq Museum.
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You can also listen to the Word of the Week on KMXT Public Radio, tune into the weekly podcast on Spotify and other platforms, read lessons in the Friday edition of the Kodiak Daily Mirror, and find a new lesson each Sunday on the Alutiiq Museum’s social media.

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