Aleut

Appearance
Aleut is a hippocampus with coloring similar to a seal, in various gray colored dapples. She has a very long tail the same color as her body and a long, silky, silvery mane with two strands bound with thin strips of copper-colored metal.

Personality
Aleut loves to daydream and let her imagination run away with her. Because of this, she can seem a little out of touch with reality, but she is truly an intelligent horse.

Magical Gift
As a hippocampus, Aleut can swim incredibly well and likely breath underwater, though her seal-like body may require her to come up for air. She can also survive the freezing waters she calls home.

Seal
Aleut has a special connection to the seals she shares her home waters with. They are her favorite playmates and best friends.

The Name Game
The tribe this steed is based on are located on the seventy Aleutian Islands that extend 1,000 miles southwest from Alaska. Russians named this tribe Aleuts. They call themselves Unangan, which means “The People.”

During World War II some Aleuts were captured by the Japanese and held as prisoners of war. Traditional Aleuts were exceptional maritime hunters, using harpoons to catch prey, which consisted of whales, otters, sea lions and seals. They built light, flexible boats called kayaks. Aleuts built and lived in underground houses called barabaras. Barabaras were camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding ground, making them almost undetectable. Aleuts made jewelry out of ivory, bone and feathers. Aleuts developed techniques for surviving harsh arctic winters. During the summers the Aleuts would travel inland to fish for salmon and live in temporary dwellings. Today Aleuts still live in Alaska, where 44 million acres of federal land was set aside for Alaska’s Inuit and Aleut populations. [1]

Promo Info
Aleut could be found in the June/July 2008 issue of the Discovery Girls magazine. [2] According to some collectors, she was a Dollar Store Discovery Girls magazine exclusive, although this info has not been confirmed.

Inspirational Message
English: "Give your imagination time, and it will find a way."

French: "Laisse le temps à ton imagination: elle finira par t’amener à la solution."