User:Iqyax

My Aleut name is "iqyax" or "iqya-x" or "iqyaax" meaning "kayak". My American name is Michael Livingston. I was raised in Cold Bay on the Alaska Peninsula and began sea kayaking as a small boy (around age 7) in a kayak built by my father. Around age 13 I began learning Aleut basket weaving from Anfesia Shapsnikoff on Kodiak Island. Around age 21 I began learning how to build iqya-x from Aleut elder Sergie Sovoroff, Bill Tcheripanoff, and Phil Tutiakoff. Since then I have taught iqya-x building and construction on the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, the Pribilof Islands, the Shumagin Islands, Prince William Sound, and Anchorage including the "Qayaqs and Canoes" project at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in 2000.

Kayaks were an important material culture item for the ancient people of Alaska and the Arctic. Often the very survival of the Arctic people depended on the capability of people within the community to build and use sea kayaks. Over the past 200 years, the construction and use of sea kayaks has declined, sometimes to the point of extinction.

As part of Aleut traditions, I try to honor Alaska Native and Native American elders. If you have any comments, feedback or corrections,please contact me at michaellivingstonalaska@gmail.com.