Elders and language learners gather for a weekly discussion in Alutiiq.
Language Lessons
LEARN ALUTIIQ
Liicugtuten-qaa Alutiit’stun? — Do you want to learn Alutiiq?
Many resources can help you get started. Follow the link below to explore Alutiiq sounds, grammar, and vocabulary.
Alutiiq Word of the Week
LESSONS IN ALUTIIQ LANGUAGE & CULTURE
What is the origin of the word Kodiak? How do you bend wood to make a bowl? Why is it bad luck to talk about bears? The answers are in the Alutiiq Word of the Week, a series of lessons on all things Alutiiq. Each lesson pairs a word and a sentence in the Alutiiq language with a short article. Explore Alutiiq vocabulary and a wealth of cultural information in this compilation of 680 lessons.
Ar’ursurwik–Whale Island
Interactive Place Names Map
EXPLORE KODIAK IN ALUTIIQ
Alutiiq/Sugpiaq people have lived in the Kodiak Archipelago for millennia, naming the mountains, meadows, and waterways that shape their world. This digital map shares over three hundred Alutiiq place names with audio files and photos.
Candace Branson speaks with Elder Phyllis Peterson. Photo by Janet Kotwas.
Language Collections
SPEAKERS AND RECORDINGS
The Alutiiq Museum has been recording Alutiiq speakers for two decades to preserve Alutiiq vocabulary and the sounds of Alutiiq speech. Meet the speakers, browse the collections, and hear Alutiiq spoken by Elders who learned the language as children.
April Counceller records an Alutiiq legend, 2022.
Research
LANGUAGE STUDIES
The Alutiiq language is a rich archive of cultural information. Language studies help to document cultural traditions preserved in ways of speaking, vocabulary, and grammar, and to locate Alutiiq terms that have passed from living memory.
Alaska Native Languages
Language History
ALUTIIQ—AN ALASKA NATIVE LANGUAGE
What are Alaska’s Native languages and how are they related? When did people start writing in Alutiiq? How is Alutiiq spoken today? The answers are in this presentation on the history of the Alutiiq language. Produced with support from the Kodiak Community Foundation.