The
Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from
Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "
Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name
Sugpiaq ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat") as well as
Pacific Eskimo or
Pacific Yupik, are a southern coastal people of the Native peoples of
Alaska. Their language is called
Sugstun, and it is one of
Eskimo languages, belonging to the
Yup’ik branch of these languages. They are not to be confused with the
Aleuts, who live further to the southwest, including along the
Aleutian Islands. At present, the most commonly used title is
Alutiiq [sg]
Alutiik [dual]
Alutiit [pl]. However, these terms derive from the names (Алеутъ
Aleut) that
Russian fur traders and settlers (in 1784
Awa'uq Massacre) gave to the people from the region. But, the
ethnonyms of Sugpiaq-Alutiiq are a predicament. Russian occupation began in 1784 with the brutal massacre of a large number of Sugpiat at Refuge Rock (
Awa'uq) just off the coast of
Sitkalidak Island near the present-day village of
Old Harbor (
Nuniaq). The Sugpiaq term for Aleut is
Alutiiq. All three names (Alutiiq, Aleut, and Sugpiaq) are used now, according to personal preference.