More about Alaska
What's an ulu? An oosik?
By Leon Unruh / Alaska.com
An ulu is a curved-blade knife used traditionally to cut fish and scrape hides. If you buy one in Alaska, put it in your checked baggage before you get to the airport.
An oosik, found in some souvenir shops and often given as a gag, is a walrus penis bone. Walruses can be hunted only by Natives, who sometimes sell the oosiks in the tourist market.
A cheechako is the Alaska equivalent of a tenderfoot, a newcomer. Some people lose their cheechako status after one winter. Others take longer, depending on how willingly they accept the lifestyle of their new home.
The taku wind was named for a glacier in the northern part of Southeast Alaska. Taku winds sometimes reach 100 mph in downtown Juneau. A chinook wind is a strong warm wind occurring in winter. A williwaw is the overwhelming wind found in the Aleutian Islands.
Page 1
|
