A’awista, “One Who Travels”
A’awist pronounced A-wee-sta, is a fictional character made up by Mrs. Woodward and her third grade class at East Elementary. He is an Alutiiq story teller, sharing the past to the present. He will be traveling around Kodiak Island telling you about his people, how they lived, where they went, and why they went there. He will share his culture, subsistence, and way of life. Check back to see where he goes.
A'awista
My history began as one of Kodiak’s Alutiiq people from the Ocean Bay Tradition over 7,500 years ago. This is when Kodiak was colonized by maritime people. We lived a subsistence lifestyle of fishing and hunting sea mammals from skin covered kayaks. Later our villages relocated to productive salmon streams and re-organized our subsistence practices into what they are today.
I am A’awista. In the Alutiiq language my name means, "One Who Travels.” My ancestors told me about the Kodiak people who began living in large coastal villages that hunted and fished in new ways. They developed nets to harvest large quantities of salmon to feed their growing population. These were the people of the Kachemak Tradition, who lived 3,800 years ago.
Next, was the Koniag tradition when 600 years ago villages were led by wealthy chiefs. This was when my ancestors hunted whales. By the 1780’s, Russian fur traders colonized our Alutiiq Nation. My people were compelled to adopt new social and economic practices. This is when many of my people died from infectious diseases. During the Russian period, my people, the Alutiiq, were forced to work in artels or camps dedicated to sea otter hunting, salmon fishing, and whaling. It was during this time when Russian clergy introduced the Russian Orthodox faith, which remains strong in many of our communities today. Then just over 200 years ago with the sale of Alaska to the United States of America in 1887, our life changed again. This is when the American period was characterized by the development of the modern fishing industry. Many of my people worked for wages in the canneries. We gradually moved from a complete subsistence lifestyle into a western market economy.
To be continued……..
*Thank-you, Florence Pestrikoff for giving the traveling kayaker the name A’awista, meaning, "One who Travels”.
*Article was written by: Mrs. Woodward and her third grade class at East Elementary. Good Job and Thank-you for bringing this character to life!