History of the Region

Northwest Alaska

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Location

Ambler is located on the Kobuk River 45 miles north of the Arctic Circle and 138 miles northeast of Kotzebue. It is thirty miles northwest of Kobuk and thirty miles downriver from Shungnak.

Culture

The population of Ambler is 309. The residents are mostly Kowagniut Iñupiat Eskimos, who lead a traditional subsistence lifestyle, dependent on chum salmon and caribou for main food sources. Freshwater fish, moose, bear, and berries are also harvested.

History

Ambler was permanently settled in 1958 when people from Shungnak and Kobuk moved upstream because of the variety of fish, wild game and spruce trees in the area. A post office was established in 1963.

Location

Buckland is located on the west bank of the Buckland River, about 75 miles southeast of Kotzebue.

Culture

The population of Buckland is 406, mostly Iñupiat Eskimo. Subsistence activities are an important component of the lifestyle, as residents depend on caribou, beluga whale and seal for survival.

History

The residents have moved from one site to another along the river at least five times, to places known as Elephant Point, Old Buckland and New Site. The presence of extensive fossil remains at Elephant Point indicates prehistoric occupation of the area. The moves to Old Buckland and Elephant Point in the 1920s were made to pasture or slaughter the village's reindeer herd. Buckland is located in an area subject to flooding during spring break-up due to ice jamming.

Location

Deering is located on the Kotzebue Sound at the mouth of the Inmachuk River, 57 miles southwest of Kotzebue. It lies on a flat gravel spit 300 feet wide and a half-mile long.

Culture

The population of the village is 136, primarily Iñupiat Eskimo. The residents rely heavily on subsistence activities. Moose, seal and beluga whale provide most meat sources; pink salmon, tomcod, herring, ptarmigan, rabbit and waterfowl are also caught.

History

The village was established in 1901 as a supply station for interior gold mining near "Inmachukmiut," a historic Malemiut Eskimo village. The name "Deering" was probably adopted from the 90-ton schooner, "Abbey Deering," which sailed in nearby waters around 1900.

Location

Kiana is located at the junction of the Kobuk and Squirrel Rivers, 57 miles east of Kotzebue.

Culture

Kiana is a traditional Iñupiat Eskimo village dependent on a subsistence lifestyle. Chum salmon, freshwater fish, moose, caribou, waterfowl, and berries are harvested. The current population of Kiana is 388.

History

Kiana means "a place where three rivers meet." It was settled hundreds of years ago as the main village of the Kobuk River's Kowagmiut Iñupiat Eskimos. In 1909, it became a supply center for mines along the Squirrel River. Prior to the formation of the Northwest Arctic Borough in 1976, the Bureau of Indian Affairs high school taught students from Noatak, Shungnak, and Ambler, who boarded with local residents.

Location

Kivalina is at the tip of an 8-mile barrier reef located between the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina River. It lies 80 miles northwest of Kotzebue.

Culture

Kivalina is a traditional Iñupiat Eskimo village; subsistence activities, including whaling, provide most food sources. The population is currently about 377.

History

Kivalina has long been a stopping-off point for seasonal travelers between arctic coastal areas and Kotzebue Sound communities. At one time, the village was located at the north end of the Kivalina Lagoon. Kivalina incorporated as a city in 1969. During the 1970s, new houses, a new school, and an electric system were constructed in the village. Prior to 1976, high school students from Noatak would attend school in Kivalina, and board with local families. Due to severe erosion, the City intends to relocate to a new site 7.5 miles away. Funds have been provided by various federal and state agencies since the early 1990s to assess relocation options and to design and engineer the new site.

Location

Kobuk is located on the right bank of the Kobuk River, about 7 miles northeast of Shungnak and 128 miles northeast of Kotzebue.

Culture

Kobuk is an Iñupiat Eskimo village practicing a traditional subsistence lifestyle, dependent on whitefish, caribou, and moose for meat sources. High school students attend school in Shungnak. Kobuk is the smallest and most remote organized village in the Northwest Arctic Borough. The population is currently about 109.

History

Kobuk was founded in 1899 as a supply point for mining activities in the Cosmos Hills to the north. A trading post, school, and Friends Mission drew area residents to the settlement. Due to river erosion and flooding, the village was relocated in the 1920s to a new site 10 miles downstream, called "Kochuk," now Shungnak. The few who remained at the old village renamed it Kobuk. Ice jams on the river cause high water each year. In May 1973, a flood covered the entire village.

Location

Kotzebue lies on a 3-mile-long spit ranging in width from 1,100 to 3,600 feet located on the Baldwin Peninsula near the discharges of the Kobuk and Noatak Rivers. It is 549 miles northwest of Anchorage and 26 miles above the Arctic Circle.

Culture

The population of Kotzebue is 3,082, 75 percent of which is Iñupiat Eskimos among whom subsistence activities are an integral part of the lifestyle. Each summer, the North Tent City fish camp is set up to dry and smoke the season's catch. As a regional economic center, it offers a mixture of private sector business and traditional subsistence activities found nowhere else in the region.

History

Location

Noatak is 55 miles north of Kotzebue and 70 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It is located on the west bank of the Noatak River, one of the largest "totally unspoiled" rivers in the United States. This is the only settlement on the 400 mile-long Noatak.

Culture

The village is primarily Iñupiat Eskimo. Subsistence activities are the central focus of the culture, as many families travel to fish camps at Sheshalik during the summer. Noatak has no official city government, but citizens and the Noatak I.R.A. (Indian Reorganization Act) Council make local decisions. The current population of Noatak is 428.

History

Noatak was officially established in the 19th century as a fishing and hunting camp, but Native Iñupiat Eskimo have inhabited the area for the past several hundred years. The area's rich resources enabled the camp to develop into a permanent settlement.

Location

Noorvik is located on the right bank of the Nazuruk Channel of the Kobuk River, 33 miles northwest of Selawik, and 47 miles east of Kotzebue. The village is downriver from the 1.7-million acre Kobuk Valley National Park.

Culture

Noorvik is mainly an Iñupiat Eskimo community that participates in a subsistence lifestyle, depending on caribou, fish, moose, waterfowl, and berries for survival. The population of Noorvik is currently 634.

History

Noorvik means "a place that is moved to." Kowagmuit Iñupiat Eskimo fishermen and hunters from Deering established the village in the early 1900s. Iñupiat from Oksik, a few miles upriver, also settled the village. Noorvik is one of the largest communities in the Northwest Arctic Borough.

Location

Point Hope is located near the tip of Point Hope peninsula, a large gravel spit that forms the western-most extension of the northwest Alaskan coast, 330 miles southwest of Barrow.

Culture

Over ninety percent of the Point Hope population is Iñupiat Eskimo. Residents are highly dependent upon marine subsistence; seals, bowhead whales, beluga whales, caribou, polar bears, birds, fish and berries are harvested. This highly favorable site, with its abundant resources, has enabled the community to retain strong cultural traditions after more than a century of outside influences. The current population of Point Hope is 757.

History

Point Hope peninsula is one of the oldest continuously occupied Iñupiat Eskimo areas in Alaska; several settlements have existed on the peninsula over the past 2,500 years. In the early 1970s the village moved to a new site just east of the old village because of erosion and periodic storm-surge flooding.

Location

Selawik is located at the mouth of the Selawik River, about 70 miles southeast of Kotzebue. It lies 670 miles northwest of Anchorage. The village is near the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, a key breeding and resting spot for migratory waterfowl.

Culture

Selawik is an Iñupiat Eskimo community active in traditional subsistence fishing and hunting, depending on whitefish, sheefish, caribou, moose, ducks, ptarmigan and berries. The population of Selawik is 772.

History

Selawik is an Eskimo name for a species of fish. In the 1840s, Lt. L. A. Zagoskin of the Imperial Russian Navy first reported the village as "Chilivik." In an 1880 census, 100 residents were counted and around 1908, the site had a small wooden schoolhouse and church.

Location

Shungnak is located on the winding shoreline of the Kobuk River about 150 miles east of Kotzebue, and about 10 miles downstream from the village of Kobuk.

Culture

Shungnak is a traditional Iñupiat Eskimo village based on a subsistence lifestyle, dependent on sheefish, whitefish, caribou, moose, ducks and berries. High school students from Kobuk attend school in Shungnak. The village has a population of 256.

History