“ESKIMO” IS THE BEST-KNOWN term for the Native Americans described in this book, but it is not their term. They call themselves “Inupiat,” meaning “the people.” “Eskimo,” a term brought into Alaska by white men, is what certain Indian tribes in eastern Canada called their neighbors to the north. It probably meant “eaters of raw flesh.”
Nonetheless, “Eskimo” and “Inupiat” are used more or less interchangeably in northwest Alaska today, at least when English is spoken, and that is the usage followed in this book.
The Inupiat call their language Inupiaq. A few words in it—those commonly mixed with English in northwest Alaska—appear in the book, along with some local colloquialisms in English. They are listed below, along with pronunciations and meanings. As the spellings vary among Inupiaq–English dictionaries, I have used the most phonetic of the spellings for the benefit of non-Inupiaq readers.
A NORTHWEST ALASKA GLOSSARY
aaka (AH-kuh): mother
aana (AH-nuh): grandmother; old lady
aaqqaa! (ah-KAH): it stinks!
alappaa! (AH-la-PAH): it’s cold!
arigaa! (AH-de-gah): good!
arii! (ah-DEE): Ouch! I hurt!
ataata (ah-TAH-tah): grandfather
atchak (AH-chuk): aunt
atikluk (ah-TEEK-look): A light summer woman’s parka, usually in a flowered pattern. It has no opening in front, but is pulled on and off over the head.
can’t-grow: a small dog
Inupiaq (IN-you-pack): the Eskimo language of northern Alaska; an individual Eskimo of northern Alaska
Inupiat (IN-you-pat): more than one Inupiaq; the Eskimo people of northern Alaska
iq’mik (ICK-mick): a form of chewing tobacco made by combining leaf tobacco with the ashes of burnt tree fungus, usually birch
katak (CUT-uck): fall
kinnaq (KIN-ock): crazy; a crazy person
kunnichuk (KUH-knee-chuck): storm shed
malik (MULL-ick): accompany or follow
miluk (MILL-uck): breast
muktuk (MUCK-tuck): whale skin with a thin layer of fat adhering; a great delicacy in Inupiat country
naluaqmiiyaaq (nuh-LOCK-me-ock): almost white; an Inupiaq who tries to act white
naluaqmiu (nuh-LOCK-me): a white person
naluaqmiut (nuh-LOCK-me): more than one white person; white people
nanuq (NA-NOOK): polar bear
polynya: a lead in the sea ice kept open all winter by winds and currents
qavvik (KAH-vik): wolverine
quiyuk (KWEE-yuck): sex
taaqsipak (TOX-ee-puck): the color black; an African-American
ulu (OOH-loo): traditional Inupiat woman’s knife, shaped like a slice of pie with the cutting edge at the rim and a handle of horn, ivory or bone at the point
umiaq (OOM-ee-ak): whaling boat, made of a wooden frame and covered with the thick, tough hides of walrus or bearded seal
Village English: a stripped-down form of English used by older people and residents of small villages in northwest Alaska