A NORTHWEST ALASKA GLOSSARY

aaka (AH-): mother

aana (AH-nuh): old lady, grandmother

aanaga (UH-nah-gah): auntie

aaqaa! (ah-CAH): you stink!

agnauraq (ug-NOR-uq): little woman, slang for gay man

angatquq (AHNG-ut-cook): shaman

aqpattuq (UQ-put-tuq): runs

arigaa! (AH-de-gah): it’s good!

arii! (ah-DEE): ouch! it hurts!

atiqluk (ah-TEEK-luk): woman’s flowered parka

bunnik (BUN-nuk): affectionate term for daughter. The actual Inupiaq word is paniq.

inuksuk (IN-uk-suk): a stone trail marker erected by Eskimo peoples all around the circumpolar world. By tradition, an inuksuk meant, “You are on the right path.”

Inupiaq (in-OO-pyock): one Eskimo; the Eskimo language

Inupiat (IN-you-pyat): more than one Inupiaq; the Inupiat people

ivu (EE-voo): ice override, ice pushed onshore by storm winds

kunnichuk (KUH-nee-chuck): Arctic entry, or vestibule

muktuk (MUCK-tuck): whale hide with a layer of fat attached

naluaqmiiyaaq (nuh-LOCK-me-ock): someone who acts almost white

naluaqmiu, naluaqmiut (nuh-LOCK-me): white person, white race

nuliagatigiik (NU-lee-AG-ah-teek): co-husbands; two men who have sex with the same woman

pibloktoq (pib-LOCK-tock): Arctic hysteria

pukuk (PUH-kuk): get into things

qaaq (cock): marijuana

qiviktuq (KIV-ick-tuck): suicide

quaq (kwok): frozen fish

quiyuk (KWEE-yuck): sex

quyaana (kwee-YAH-nuh): thank you

sheefish: a delicious freshwater whitefish that can reach 60 pounds in size

snerts: a rambunctious multi-player variant of solitaire

Suka (SOO-ka): derived from sukattuk, Inupiaq for fast

tuuq (tuke): long-handled ice chisel for making sheefishing holes

ulu (oo-loo): traditional Eskimo woman’s knife, shaped like a slice of pizza with the cutting edge at the rim

yoi! (yoy): so lucky