Nuna - Earth; Land
Physical Sphere
Within the Kodiak Alutiiq values model, the physical surface sphere consists of physical health, material objects, economy, and our relationship to the ecosystem. In essence it represents the core ecological values that sustain wellbeing and general physical health for the Kodiak Alutiiq people. Another way of thinking about the physical or material sphere is that it represents all that exists tangibly on the surface of the earth. In Alutiiq the word used for ‘earth,’ ‘land,’ and sometimes ‘village,’ is nuna. It represents this values group as it embodies the concept of place and is the field upon which all life manifests. Another keyword appropriate to this sphere is qaik or body surface. This word is also connected to the concept of ‘on top of it’ as in qaingani. The physical sphere lives in the first world: earth, or nuna. The following three of the fourteen Alutiiq values relate to the physical sphere:
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Nunapet (Our land)
“Ties to our Homeland”
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Nunapet Carliarluki (Taking care of our land)
“Stewardship of animals, land, sky, and waters” -
Unguwacirpet (Our way of being alive)
“A subsistence lifestyle respectful and sustained by the natural world”
The underlying question these value statements answer is: How do the Alutiiq relate to their environment?