Their traditional homelands date back to over 7,500 years ago, and include areas such as Prince William Sound and outer Kenai Peninsula (Chugach Sugpiaq), the Kodiak Archipelago and the Alaska Peninsula (Koniag Alutiiq). In the early 1800s there were more than 60 Alutiiq villages in the Kodiak archipelago, with an estimated population of 13,000 people. Today more than 4,000 Alutiiq live in Alaska.[5]
Terminology
At present, the most commonly used title is Alutiiq (singular), Alutiik (dual), Alutiit (plural). These terms derive from the names (Алеутъ, Aleut) that the promyshlenniki (indigenous Siberian and Russian fur traders and settlers) gave to the native people in the region.[6] Russian occupation began in 1784, following the Awa'uq Massacre by Grigory Shelikhov, a fur trader, of hundreds of Sugpiat at Refuge Rock (Awa'uq) just off the coast of Sitkalidak Island near the present-day village of Old Harbor (Nuniaq).[7]
Given the violence underlying the colonial period, and confusion because the Sugpiaq term for Aleut is Alutiiq, some Alaska Natives from the region have advocated use of the terms that the people themselves use to describe their people and language: Sugpiaq (singular), Sugpiak (dual), Sugpiat (plural) — to identify the people (meaning "the real people"), and Sugstun, Sugcestun, Sugt'stun, or Sugtestun to refer to the language. All three names (Alutiiq, Aleut, and Sugpiaq) are used now, according to personal preference.[4][8] Over time, many other ethnonyms were used to refer to this people.[9]
Culture
Fishing and subsistence
The people traditionally lived a coastal lifestyle, subsisting primarily on ocean resources that were supplemented with rich land resources, such as berries and land mammals. The exact methods of subsistence would change throughout the seasons. Ugnerkaq, or spring, was often regarded as the most difficult season to survive in due to the winter's limiting of resources. During this time, the Alutiiq would turn to the shore, collecting shellfish, hunting octopuses, and pick greens during low tide. As the season furthered, fish and sea mammals would gradually move closer to shore to feed. Alutiiq would then hook cod and halibut, collect herring eggs, and hunt for seals. As Kiak, or summer, approached, activity increased out on the open ocean. Fishing for halibut and cod would continue to remain prevalent, along with the hunting and harvest at seal and sea lion haulouts, and bird rookeries even common feeding grounds for humpback whales. Trees and shrubs such as cedar (Qar’usiq; Qasrulek, Thuja plicata, Callitropsis nootkatensis), Kenai birch, Sitka spruce (Napaq), and other were harvested for their medical and nutritional value.[10] During this time trade would emerge with the natives of mainland Alaska for materials such as antler, ivory, caribou pelts, and glassy stone, not available on Kodiak. During Uksuaq, or fall, much of the work that was done was in preparation for winter. They pick berries sweetened by the first frosts; harvest large quantities of salmon spawning in local streams; hunt fat bears headed for hibernation, and shoot ducks migrating south for the winter. Much of their harvest would be preserved for winter. This was done a variety of ways: from drying, smoking, storing in oil, or freezing foods. During the harsh storms of Uksuq, or winter, most of the season would be spent insides, with occasional breaks in the storms allowing for the trapping of foxes and ermine, hunting ducks, or fishing through lake or river ice. While inside, celebrations and festivals would be held in honor of the harvest, and ancestors[11]
Housing
Before contact with Russian fur traders, they lived in semi-subterranean homes called ciqlluaq. Today, in the 21st century, the Alutiiq live in coastal fishing communities in more modern housing. They work in all aspects of the modern economy, while also maintaining the cultural value of subsistence.
Cultural arts
Traditional Alutiiq art are sources of pride for many as they typically highlight the importance of ancestors, the endurance and preservation of tradition, and the beauty of the natural world that sustain Alutiiq life.[12] Physical medians of expression include pinguat–beads (made from shell, bone, ivory, amber, coal, shale, slate and fish vertebrae),[13] woodcarvings in relation to Alutiiq religion,[14] skin sown articles of clothing for celebratory and traditional use,[15] and grass weaving of both artistic expression and functional application.[16] During festivals, story telling, singing and dancing were all important means of passing down history through generations as Alutiiq lacked a formal system of writing.[17][18][19]
Language
In 2010 the high school in Kodiak responded to requests from Alutiiq students and agreed to teach the Alutiiq language. It is one of the Eskaleut languages, belonging to the Yup'ik branch of these languages.[20] The Kodiak dialect of the language was being spoken by only about 50 persons, all of them elderly, and the dialect was in danger of being lost entirely.[21]
^"East Prince William Sound Landscape Assessment"(PDF). Cordova Ranger District, Chugach National Forest. September 9, 2008. (= "The term Alutiiq is the Sugtestun pronunciation of the Russian-introduced name Aleut and is commonly used as a self-designation by the people of the Chugach region"; Russian: Алутиик)
^"Mapping Alaska's Native languages". Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. (= Names derived from a combination of Russian and Native words include: Alutiiq, from the Russian word Aleut (a term something like English "Eskimo" but referring to the people of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Kodiak archipelago); plus the Russian plural suffix -y; plus the Native singular suffix -q)
^"Singing". alutiiqmuseum.org. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
^"Dancing". alutiiqmuseum.org. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
^Krauss, Michael (1990). "Alaska Native Languages in Russian America". In Smith, Barbara S.; Barnett, Redmond J. (eds.). Russian America: The Forgotten Frontier. Tacoma, WA: Washington State Historical Society. pp. 205–213.
Braund, Stephen R. & Associates. Effects of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on Alutiiq Culture and People. Anchorage, Alaska: Stephen R. Braund & Associates, 1993.
Crowell, Aron, Amy F. Steffian, and Gordon L. Pullar. Looking Both Ways; Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 2001. ISBN1-889963-30-5
Harvey, Lola. Derevnia's Daughters, Saga of an Alaskan Village. A story about the Old Village of Afognak up to and including the strongest earthquake ever recorded on the North American continent and the resulting tsunami of March 27, 1964. 1991 ISBN0-89745-135-X
Lee, Molly. 2006. ""If It's Not a Tlingit Basket, Then What Is It?": Toward the Definition of an Alutiiq Twined Spruce Root Basket Type", Arctic Anthropology. 43, no. 2: 164.
Luehrmann, Sonja. Alutiiq Villages Under Russian and U.S. Rule. Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2008. ISBN978-1-60223-010-1
Mishler, Craig. 1997. "Aurcaq: Interruption, Distraction, and Reversal in an Alutiiq Men's Dart Game", The Journal of American Folklore. (Vol. 110, no. 436): 189–202.
Mishler, Craig. 2003. Black Ducks and Salmon Bellies: An Ethnography of Old Harbor and Ouzinkie, Alaska. Donning Company Publishers. Distributed by the Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository, Kodiak, Alaska.
Mishler, Craig, and Rachel Mason. 1996. "Alutiiq Vikings: Kinship and Fishing in Old Harbor, Alaska", Human Organization : Journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology (Vol. 55, no. 3): 263–269.
Mulcahy, Joanne B. Birth & Rebirth on an Alaskan Island; The Life of an Alutiiq Healer. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2001. ISBN0-8203-2253-9
Partnow, Patricia H. Making History Alutiiq/Sugpiaq Life on the Alaska Peninsula. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 2001. ISBN1-889963-38-0
Simeonoff, Helen J., and A. L. Pinart. Origins of the Sun and Moon Alutiiq Legend from Kodiak Island, Alaska, Collected by Alphonse Louis Pinart, March 20, 1872. Anchorage, Alaska (3212 West 30th Ave., Anchorage 99517-1660): H.J. Simeonoff, 1996.
Holton, Gary. "Mapping Alaska's Native languages". Alaska Native Language Center. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2014. Names derived from a combination of Russian and Native words include: Alutiiq, from the Russian word Aleut; plus the Russian plural suffix -y; plus the Native singular suffix -q
Miller, Gwenn A. (2010). Kodiak Kreol: Communities of Empire in Early Russian America. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN978-0-8014-4642-9.
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