Kimmer Ball, Heather Fuller, Balee Davis, Molly Hayes, Yeunkyon Kim, Nicole Ling, Angie Malfronti, Mairiah McDonald, Tiffeny Moore, Esther Peppin, Jenniffer Porter, Hannah Predeger, Brittany Rush, Vandalyn Saetern-Hudson, Miriam Schoffman, Ben Schultz, Hilary Seitz, Aline Stevenson, & Seng Vang

is for Apron

An apron is an important tool to wear when cutting and cleaning Alaskan fish. The apron ties behind the head and waist. The apron helps you to stay clean when doing messy jobs and can protect you if your knife slips.

Apron has a long A sound.

Atlatl has a short A sound

A is for Atlatl

An Atlatl is an Alaska Native tool used for throwing your bow and arrow a great distance. Atlatls were used to help hunters during hunting tasks.

is for Blueberries

Blueberries are juicy berries that grow wild on the tundra in many parts of Alaska. In Alaska we pick blueberries during the late summer months. Blueberries taste delicious in Agutak. Yum Yum!

is for Caribou

Caribou are mammals and members of the deer family. Caribou are found in the tundra parts of Alaska. Caribou are herbivores. Caribou enjoy eating moss or lichens in the winter. In the summer Caribous eat grass, mushrooms and plants. Caribou use their hooves to dig for food especially in the winter A Caribou can weigh up to 700 pounds and Caribou can live up to 15 years.

is for Dancer

Dancers can creatively tell stories alongside others using instruments such as drums. They often dress creatively with culturally appropriate Alaska Native garments. Their rituals are not only entertaining but depict their rich cultural background.

is for Drum

Drums are musical instruments commonly used by Alaska Natives for storytelling. They are often made of animal skin and keep a group in rhythm together due to their timekeeping function. Drums are able to be packed in a backpack to take on long journeys in the back country to use for storytelling while camping.

is for Eagle

There are two types of Eagles in Alaska the Bald Eagle and the Golden Eagle. Like raptors the female Bald Eagle and the Golden eagles are bigger than the males.

Eagle has a long E sound.

is for egg

There are many different types of animals that lay eggs. Some examples are snakes, birds, and fish. Eggs are also yummy to eat.

Egg has a short E sound.

is for Fan

Fans are quite significant to the Native Americans. They are used in Pow Wows to dance with or church to pray with. There are different types of fans Natives use depending on the occasion. Traditional fans are made out of Eagle feathers, hawk feathers, and feathers from other endangered or federally protected birds, that only Native Americans are allowed to carry.

Fireweed is a flower. It starts to bloom during the summer. When the flower reaches the top of the stem, the first snow falls. Fireweed is very useful. The Alaskan natives use it for food and medicine. Fireweed is an amazing flower.

is for Fireweed

is for Goat

Mountain goats are sure-footed climbers and have special hooves for climbing in rough, slippery terrain. Mountain goats are sometimes confused with Dall Sheep yet, goats have black horns and live closer to the glaciers and remote mountains.

is for House.

A house is a building or dwelling where people live, sometimes as part of a family or small group. Indigenous people of Alaska had many different types of houses based on the climate of their area and the natural resources that were available.

is for Igloo

Igloo is a type of dome-shaped shelter built from blocks of solid snow. It's traditionally used by Inuits (members of indigenous people of northern Canada and parts of Greenland and Alaska).

Igloo has a short I sound.

Ice is water frozen into a solid form. Ice provides access to fishing, hunting, and transportation for Alaskans. In the Arctic ice is melting earlier and coming back later and later. Sea ice is further out from the land making it harder for indigenous people to hunt successfully for their food supply.

Ice has a long I sound.

Is for Ice

is for Jellyfish

A jellyfish is a marine invertebrate.

They have a bell or saucer shaped

body and tentacles with tiny stinging

cells. They use their stinging tentacles to paralyze their prey before munching it up. Jellyfish have no brain, heart, bones, or eyes. They can be translucent or vibrant in color. Jellyfish have existed for millions of years, even before dinosaurs.

is for Kayak

A kayak is used for traveling on the water. Native groups of Alaska used kayaks for hunting, traveling, and trading.

is for Lamp

Lamps are used to provide both light and heat and are made out of a stone dish, with a wick made of cottongrass or dried moss, and seal blubber. The wick is lit on fire and the blubber feeds that fire so it does not go out. The lamp is more than one thousand years old and was found in an archaeological site on Kodiak Island.

is for Moose

Moose is the largest member of the deer family. The Alaska-Yukon moose is the largest of all moose species, weighing more than 1,400 pounds and stands about 7 feet tall. Alaska-Yukon moose are known for their huge antlers.

is for Net Fishing

A fishing net is a device made from fibers woven in a grid-like structure for fishing. Some fishing nets are known as fish traps. Early nets were woven from grasses and other fibrous plant material. Later cotton was used. Modern nets are usually made of nylon (inorganic), or wool and silk thread (organic).

is for Ocean

The ocean is the large amounts of salt water that surrounds land. The four major oceans are Indian, Atlantic, Arctic, and the Pacific, which is near Alaska. It holds sea creatures such as salmon, halibut, whales, and many more.

Ocean has a long O sound.