aaka (AH-kuh): mother
aana (AH-nuh): grandmother; old lady
akhio (AH-key-OH): a low fiberglass cargo sled that slides on its belly; unlike a dogsled, it has no runners
amaguq (AH-ma-GUK): wolf
anaq (AH-nuk): excrement; dirt
angatquq (AHNG-ut-cook): shaman
Aqaa (ah-CAH!): It stinks!
arigaa (AH-de-gah): good!
Arii (ah-DEE): I hurt!
ataata (ah-TAH-tah): grandfather
ee (E): yes
inuksuk (in-UK-suck): a manlike figure made of stones; the Inupiat used them as trail markers and as bogeymen to frighten caribou into lakes or traps
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
kikituq (KICK-ee-took): a monster; the spirit familiar of an angatquq*
kunnichuk (KUH-knee-chuck): storm shed
kuspuk (KUSP-uk): light parka
malik (MULL-uk): accompany or follow
masru (MOSS-rue): Eskimo potato
miluk (MILL-uk): 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
natchiq (NOTCH-ik): seal
pukuk (PUCK-uck): pry, poke around, get into things
quiyuk (KWEE-yuck): sex
siksrik (SIX-rik): squirrel
taggaqvik (ta-GOG-vik): place of shadows
ugruk (OOG-rook): bearded seal
ukpeagvik (OOK-pea-OG-vik): place of snowy owls
ukpik (OOK-pik): snowy owl
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 the Inupiat of Northwest Alaska, particularly older people and residents of small villages
Yoi! (rhymes with “boy”): So lucky!
* Here, I confess to taking creative license. In actual fact, an angatquq’s spirit familiar was called his angatquq. I thought this would be hopelessly confusing in fiction, and so substituted kikituq, a word of somewhat similar meaning, to serve as the angatquq’s spirit familiar.