Iliodor ”Ed” Philemonof teaches Unangam Tunuu and History at camp while incorporating traditional history and knowledge at the Urban Unangax^ camp. He uses several strategies for teaching language, including Accelerated Second Language Acquisitions (ACLA), “Where Are Your Keys?” techniques, and good old-fashioned grammar lessons.

Mr. Philemonof was born and raised on St. George Island and currently resides in Anchorage, Alaska. He was an infant during the Aleut Evacuation during World War II and was the youngest evacuee form the Aleutians. He is self-taught in the modern orthography (standardized writing system) of Unangam Tunuu and has taught classes at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, at culture camps and other community events. Since 1999, he has provided translations and technical assistance for language preservation projects administered through APIA, is a member of the Unangam Tunuu Advisory Committee and provides mentorship to several apprentices as they learn the language.

Having mastered the written and grammatical form and structure of the language, he is one of only a handful of speakers who can read and write the language. He enjoys the transliteration of Biblical text written during the 1800’s in the Aleut Language using the ancient Cyrillic orthography into the modern orthography for Unangam Tunuu. Mr. Philemonof attended St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary at Canaan, PA and studied Theology. He is also semi-fluent in reading and writing Cyrillic.