UNANGAM TUNUU

Taytum x̂anix̂ Robinson is the artist behind Qawax̂ Creations - a contemporary Unangax̂ jewelry line she started about a year ago. Her earrings are known on social media for their unique use of seal intestine, or seal gut, which has traditionally been used to make rain gear.

Unangam Tunuu [Unangax̂ language] classes are available at the University of Alaska for the first time in two decades. Instructors Haliehana Stepetin and Moses Dirks are using traditional methods as a framework for teaching this course.

A collection of audio reels made in the Aleutian region in the 1970s was digitized and will soon be available online through the University of Alaska Fairbanks.The recordings were part of a school project that started in 1977 when a group of Unalaska students and their teacher Ray Hudson started collecting texts about the culture, language and history of the Aleutians. They called themselves the “Cuttlefish Class” – a name they picked out together – and they called their project the “Cuttlefish Series.”The students put together six hefty volumes meant to bring the island community and Unangax̂ culture into the classroom. They contain things like fishing stories, letters, recipes for alodics (an Unangax̂ form of fry bread), as well as memories from Makushin and the other lost villages that were forcibly evacuated during World War II.

Jacob Tix̂lax̂ Stepetin co-founded and plays lead guitar for the Indigenous heavy metal group, Merciless Indian Savages. They have song titles like “Pseudo Savior,” “Manifest Death” and “Kill the Man/Save the Indian.” These song titles grab your attention, but Stepetin says the point is to create an opportunity to talk about Indigenous issues.

Enveloped in a thin layer of clouds, a few dozen Unalaskans stood on a bank around Margaret's Bay on the evening of August 12 and watched as Unalaska…

Fletcher Bagley, a soon-to-be second grader, held a small glass vial in the air filled with a dark green liquid. It's wormwood oil, which can be used to…

The University of Alaska Anchorage will offer Unangam Tunuu courses as part of its Alaska Native Studies coursework. This fall students can take a course…

Indigenous women in the United States are murdered 10 times more often than the national average, and nearly half of all Alaska Native and Native American…

The Russian Orthodox Church observes Christmas on Jan. 7. The day marks the first of three days of celebrations. To commemorate the holiday this year,…

Unalaska will soon be home to a community banya, or steam bath. The banya is part of a cultural build project involving the Qawalangin Tribe, Aleutian…