ach fall, after the end of salmon fishing and the berry harvest,
the Alutiiq people of southern coastal Alaska held a series of festivals
and spiritual ceremonies that lasted throughout the winter months.
Dances and accompanying songs addressed powerful spirits who could help
or harm human beings, and appealed to the souls of animals upon whom life
depended.
Begin the Alutiiq Dance
Wearing masks and beautiful ceremonial dress, men and women
danced their parts in the rituals, accompanied by the beat of skin drums,
bird beak rattles, and piercing whistles that called the spirits to the
dance house, or qasgiq (in Russian, kazhim). Gideon, a Russian Orthodox churchman, witnessed one of the winter
ceremonies on Kodiak Island between 1804 and 1807. His description,
translated from the Russian by Lydia Black, is illustrated here by artist
Mark Matson.
Highlights from the Fisher Collection
Alutiiq ceremonial garments, masks, and instruments shown
with the drawings are from the William J. Fisher collection (1879-1884)
at the National Museum of Natural History. The photographs link to data
recorded by Fisher, Alutiiq (Sugcestun) language names corrected from
Fisher's notes by linguist Jeff Leer, and research commentary by Dee Hunt.
Download the Video (2MG)
Even today the Alutiiq people value their sacred dances and continue to perform the
Alutiiq Dance, as shown in this video of the Kodiak Alutiiq Dancers. The Kodiak Alutiiq
Dancers welcomed elders to the Alutiiq Museum in September, 1997, for a three-day
cultural conference and planning meeting for the exhibition Looking Both Ways:
Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People.
View the References
If you are intrigued and would like to learn more about Alutiiq Heritage and Identity, please review
the references section of this site.
ach fall, after the end of salmon fishing and the berry harvest,
the Alutiiq people of southern coastal Alaska held a series of festivals
and spiritual ceremonies that lasted throughout the winter months.
Dances and accompanying songs addressed powerful spirits who could help
or harm human beings, and appealed to the souls of animals upon whom life
depended.
