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Sofya Kovalevskaya

Sofya Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya (Софья Васильевна Ковалевская), born Korvin-Krukovskaya (15 January 1850 – 10 February 1891), was a Russian mathematician who made noteworthy contributions to analysis, partial differential equations and mechanics. She was a pioneer for women in mathematics around the world – the first woman to obtain a doctorate (in the modern sense) in mathematics, the first woman appointed to a full professorship in northern Europe and one of the first women to work for a scientific journal as an editor. According to historian of science Ann Hibner Koblitz, Kovalevskaya was "the greatest known woman scientist before the twentieth century".

Historian of mathematics Roger Cooke writes: "... the more I reflect on her life and consider the magnitude of her achievements, set against the weight of the obstacles she had to overcome, the more I admire her. For me she has taken on a heroic stature achieved by very few other people in history. To venture, as she did, into academia, a world almost no woman had yet explored, and to be consequently the object of curious scrutiny, while a doubting society looked on, half-expecting her to fail, took tremendous courage and determination. To achieve, as she did, at least two major results of lasting value to scholarship, is evidence of a considerable talent, developed through iron discipline."

Her sister was the socialist Anne Jaclard.

There are several alternative transliterations of her name. She herself used Sophie Kowalevski (or occasionally Kowalevsky) in her academic publications.

Background and early education

Sofya Kovalevskaya (née Korvin-Krukovskaya) was born in Moscow, the second of three children. Her father, Lieutenant General Vasily Vasilyevich Korvin-Krukovsky, served in the Imperial Russian Army as head of the Moscow Artillery before retiring to Polibino, his family estate in Pskov Oblast in 1858, when Kovalevskaya was eight years old. He was a member of the minor nobility, of mixed (Bela)Russian–Polish descent (Polish on his father's side), with possible partial ancestry from the royal Corvin family of Hungary, and served as Marshall of Nobility for Vitebsk province. (There may also have been some Romani ancestry on the father's side. )

Her mother, Yelizaveta Fedorovna Shubert (Schubert), descended from a family of German immigrants to St. Petersburg who lived on Vasilievsky Island. Her maternal great-grandfather was the astronomer and geographer Friedrich Theodor Schubert (1758−1825), who emigrated to Russia from Germany around 1785. He became a full member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Science and head of its astronomical observatory. His son, Kovalevskaya's maternal grandfather, was General Theodor Friedrich von Schubert (1789−1865), who was head of the military topographic service, and an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as Director of the Kunstkamera museum.

Kovalevskaya's parents provided her with a good early education. At various times, her governesses were native speakers of English, French, and German. When she was 11 years old, she was intrigued by a foretaste of what she was to learn later in her lessons in calculus; the wall of her room had been papered with pages from lecture notes by Ostrogradsky, left over from her father's student days. She was tutored privately in elementary mathematics by Iosif Ignatevich Malevich.

The physicist Nikolai Nikanorovich Tyrtov noted her unusual aptitude when she managed to understand his textbook by discovering for herself an approximate construction of trigonometric functions which she had not yet encountered in her studies. Tyrtov called her a "new Pascal" and suggested she be given a chance to pursue further studies under the tutelage of Aleksandr Nikolayevich Strannolyubsky. In 1866-67 she spent much of the winter with her family in St. Petersburg, where she was provided private tutoring by Strannoliubskii, a well-known advocate of higher education for women, who taught her calculus. During that same period, the son of a local priest introduced her sister Anna to progressive ideas influenced by the radical movement of the 1860s, providing her with copies of radical journals of the time discussing Russian nihilism.

Although the word nihilist (нигилист) often was used in a negative sense, it did not have that meaning for the young Russians of the 1860s (шестидесятники):

"After the famous writer Ivan Turgenev used the word nihilist to refer to Bazarov, the young hero of his 1862 novel Fathers and Children, a certain segment of the 'new people' adopted that name as well, despite its negative connotations in most quarters.... For the nihilists, science appeared to be the most effective means of helping the mass of people to a better life. Science pushed back the barriers of religion and superstition, and 'proved' through the theory of evolution that (peaceful) social revolutions were the way of nature. For the early nihilists, science was virtually synonymous with truth, progress and radicalism; thus, the pursuit of a scientific career was viewed in no way as a hindrance to social activism.  In fact, it was seen as a positive boost to progressive forces, an active blow against backwardness."

Despite her obvious talent for mathematics, she could not complete her education in Russia. At that time, women were not allowed to attend universities in Russia and most other countries. In order to study abroad, Kovalevskaya needed written permission from her father (or husband). Accordingly, in 1868 she contracted a "fictitious marriage" with Vladimir Kovalevskij, a young paleontology student, book publisher and radical, who was the first to translate and publish the works of Charles Darwin in Russia. They moved from Russia to Germany in 1869, after a brief stay in Vienna, in order to pursue advanced studies.

Student years
In April 1869, following Sofia's and Vladimir's brief stay in Vienna, where she attended lectures in physics at the university, they moved to Heidelberg. Through great efforts, she obtained permission to audit classes with the professors' approval at the University of Heidelberg. There she attended courses in physics and mathematics under such teachers as Hermann von Helmholtz, Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen. Vladimir, meanwhile, went on to the University of Jena to pursue a doctorate in paleontology.

In October 1869, shortly after attending courses in Heidelberg, she visited London with Vladimir, who spent time with his colleagues Thomas Huxley and Charles Darwin, while she was invited to attend George Eliot's Sunday salons. There, at age nineteen, she met Herbert Spencer and was led into a debate, at Eliot's instigation, on "woman's capacity for abstract thought". Although there is no record of the details of their conversation, she had just completed a lecture course in Heidelberg on mechanics, and she may just possibly have made mention of the Euler equations governing the motion of a rigid body (see following section). George Eliot was writing Middlemarch at the time, in which one finds the remarkable sentence: "In short, woman was a problem which, since Mr. Brooke's mind felt blank before it, could hardly be less complicated than the revolutions of an irregular solid." This was well before Kovalevskaya's notable contribution of the "Kovalevskaya top" to the brief list of known examples of integrable rigid body motion (see following section).

In October 1870, Kovalevskaya moved to Berlin, where she began to take private lessons with Karl Weierstrass, since the university would not allow her even to audit classes. He was very impressed with her mathematical skills, and over the subsequent three years taught her the same material that comprised his lectures at the university.

In 1871 she briefly traveled to Paris together with Vladimir in order to help in the Paris Commune, where Kovalevskaya attended the injured and her sister Anyuta was active in the Commune. With the fall of the Commune, however, both Anyuta and her common law husband Victor Jaclard, who was leader of the Montmartre contingent of the National Guard and a prominent Blanquiste, were arrested. Although Anyuta managed to escape to London, Jaclard was sentenced to execution. However, with the assistance of Sofia's and Anyuta's father General Krukovsky, who had come urgently to Paris to help Anyuta and who wrote to Adolphe Thiers asking for clemency, Jaclard was saved.

Kovalevskaya returned to Berlin and continued her studies with Weierstrass for three more years. In 1874 she presented three papers—on partial differential equations, on the dynamics of Saturn's rings, and on elliptic integrals—to the University of Göttingen as her doctoral dissertation. With the support of Weierstrass, this earned her a doctorate in mathematics summa cum laude, after Weierstrass succeeded in having her exempted from the usual oral examinations.

Kovalevskaya thereby became the first woman to have been awarded a doctorate (in the modern sense of the word) in mathematics. Her paper on partial differential equations contains what is now commonly known as the Cauchy–Kovalevskaya theorem, which proves the existence and analyticity of local solutions to such equations under suitably defined initial/boundary conditions.

Last years in Germany and Sweden

In 1874, Kovalevskaya and her husband Vladimir returned to Russia, but Vladimir failed to secure a professorship because of his radical beliefs. (Kovalevskaya never would have been considered for such a position because of her sex.) During this time they tried a variety of schemes to support themselves, including real estate development and involvement with an oil company. But in the late 1870s they developed financial problems, leading to bankruptcy.

In 1875, for some unknown reason, perhaps the death of her father, Sofia and Vladimir decided to spend several years together as an actual married couple. Three years later their daughter, Sofia (called "Fufa"), was born. After almost two years devoted to raising her daughter, Kovalevskaya put Fufa under the care of relatives and friends, resumed her work in mathematics, and left Vladimir for what would be the last time.

Vladimir, who had always suffered severe mood swings, became more unstable. In 1883, faced with worsening mood swings and the possibility of being prosecuted for his role in a stock swindle, Vladimir committed suicide.

That year, with the help of the mathematician Gösta Mittag-Leffler, whom she had known as a fellow student of Weierstrass, Kovalevskaya was able to secure a position as a privat-docent at Stockholm University in Sweden. Kovalevskaya met Mittag-Leffler's sister, the actress, novelist, and playwright Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler. Until Kovalevskaya's death the two women shared a close friendship.

In 1884 Kovalevskaya was appointed to a five-year position as Extraordinary Professor (assistant professor in modern terminology) and became an editor of Acta Mathematica. In 1888 she won the Prix Bordin of the French Academy of Science, for her work "Mémoire sur un cas particulier du problème de la rotation d'un corps pesant autour d'un point fixe, où l'intégration s'effectue à l'aide des fonctions ultraelliptiques du temps". Her submission featured the celebrated discovery of what is now known as the "Kovalevskaya top", which was subsequently shown to be the only other case of rigid body motion that is "completely integrable" other than the tops of Euler and Lagrange.

In 1889 Kovalevskaya was appointed Ordinary Professor (full professor) at Stockholm University, the first woman in Europe in modern times to hold such a position. After much lobbying on her behalf (and a change in the academy's rules) she was made a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, but she was never offered a professorship in Russia.

Kovalevskaya, who was involved in the progressive political and feminist currents of late nineteenth-century Russian nihilism, wrote several non-mathematical works as well, including a memoir, A Russian Childhood, two plays (in collaboration with Duchess Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler) and a partly autobiographical novel, Nihilist Girl (1890).

In 1889, Kovalevskaya fell in love with Maxim Kovalevsky, a distant relation of her deceased husband, but insisted on not marrying him because she would not be able to settle down and live with him.

Kovalevskaya died of epidemic influenza complicated by pneumonia in 1891 at age forty-one, after returning from a vacation in Nice with Maxim. She is buried in Solna, Sweden, at Norra begravningsplatsen.

Kovalevskaya's mathematical results, such as the Cauchy–Kowalevski theorem, and her pioneering role as a female mathematician in an almost exclusively male-dominated field, have made her the subject of several books, including a biography by Ann Hibner Koblitz, a biography in Russian by Polubarinova-Kochina (translated into English by M. Burov with the title Love and Mathematics: Sofya Kovalevskaya, Mir Publishers, 1985), and a book about her mathematics by R. Cooke.

Tributes
Sonya Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day is a grant-making program of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), funding workshops across the United States which encourage girls to explore mathematics. While the AWM currently does not have grant money to support this program, multiple universities continue the program with their own funding.

The Kovalevsky Lecture is sponsored annually by the AWM and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and is intended to highlight significant contributions of women in the fields of applied or computational mathematics.

The Kovalevskaia Fund, founded in 1985 with the purpose of supporting women in science in developing countries, was named in her honor.

The lunar crater Kovalevskaya is named in her honor.

A gymnasium in Velikiye Luki and a progymnasium in Vilnius are named after Sofya Kovalevskaya.

The Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation of Germany bestows a bi-annual Sofia Kovalevskaya Award to promising young researchers.

Saint Petersburg, Moscow, and Stockholm have streets named in honor of Kovalevskaya.

On 30 June 2021, a satellite named after her (ÑuSat 22 or "Sofya", COSPAR 2021-059AS) was launched into space as part of the Satellogic Aleph-1 constellation.

In film
Kovalevskaya has been the subject of three film and TV biographies.

 * Sofya Kovalevskaya (1956) directed by Iosef Shapiro, starring Yelena Yunger, Lev Kolesov and Tatyana Sezenyevskaya.
 * Berget på månens baksida ("A Hill on the Dark Side of the Moon") (1983) directed by Lennart Hjulström, starring Gunilla Nyroos as Sofja Kovalewsky and Bibi Andersson as Anne Charlotte Edgren-Leffler, Duchess of Cajanello, and sister to Gösta Mittag-Leffler.
 * Sofya Kovalevskaya (1985 TV) directed by Azerbaijani director Ayan Shakhmaliyeva, starring Yelena Safonova as Sofia.

In fiction

 * Little Sparrow: A Portrait of Sophia Kovalevsky (1983), Don H. Kennedy, Ohio University Press, Athens, Ohio ISBN 0821406922
 * Beyond the Limit: The Dream of Sofya Kovalevskaya (2002), ISBN 0765302330, a biographical novel by mathematician and educator Joan Spicci, published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is an historically accurate portrayal of her early married years and quest for an education. It is based in part on 88 of Kovalevskaya's letters, which the author translated from Russian to English.
 * 2021 ebook edition
 * Against the Day, a 2006 novel by Thomas Pynchon was speculated before release to be based on the life of Kovalevskaya, but in the finished novel she appears as a minor character.
 * "Too Much Happiness" (2009), short story by Alice Munro, published in the August 2009 issue of Harper's Magazine features Kovalevskaya as a main character. It was later published in a collection of the same name.

Selected publications

 * (The surname given in the paper is "von Kowalevsky".)

Novel

 * Nihilist Girl, translated by Natasha Kolchevska with Mary Zirin; introduction by Natasha Kolchevska. Modern Language Association of America (2001) ISBN 0-87352-790-9

title: Sofya Kovalevskaya


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Ambler, Alaska

Ambler (Ivisaappaat, ) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 258, down from 309 in 2000. The city is located in the large Iñupiaq language speaking region of Alaska, and the local dialect is known as the Ambler dialect (related to the Shugnak dialect). , over 91% of the community speaks and understands the language (Kraus, 1999), with many young children actively learning the language in school. It has important relationships with the "hub" city of Kotzebue, Alaska and has important relationships with Maniilaq Health Association.

Geography
Ambler is located at 67.085°N, -157.86033°W, on the north bank of the Kobuk River, near the confluence of the Ambler and the Kobuk Rivers. It lies 45 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It is 138 miles northeast of Kotzebue, 30 miles northwest of Kobuk and 30 miles downriver from Shungnak. Ambler is located in the Kotzebue Recording District.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.8 sqmi. 9.5 sqmi of it is land and 1.3 sqmi of it (11.91%) is water.

Climate
Ambler is located in the continental climate zone. Temperatures have ranged from 93F to -74F. The Kobuk River is navigable from early June to mid-October. Ambler has a subarctic climate with long, extremely cold winters and short, warm summers. Temperatures in the winter often drop below -40 °C/°F, just like most of interior Alaska, but it frequently gets mild spells where the temperatures stay above 10 °F (-12 °C) for several days in a row because of the relative closeness to the Pacific Ocean. It occasionally gets above freezing in winter, even in January, although it is not very common. Places further East like Fairbanks and Fort Yukon, for comparison, are usually lightly affected by the mild Pacific air. Ambler is also wetter because of this. Summers are quite variable too, as the weather alternates between warm days and cooler days. The highest temperature of any given year is about 80 °F (26 °C) and occasionally above 86 °F (30 °C), occurring as recently as June 18 and 19, 2013 with a maximum temperature of 90 °F (32 °C) recorded on both days. Below is a table containing data for the period 1981-1992:

History
The community was named for a tributary of the Kobuk River, which was named for Dr. James M. Ambler, who died of starvation after his ship was trapped in the Arctic ice in 1881. Ambler was permanently settled in 1958 when people from Shungnak and Kobuk moved downstream because of the variety of fish, wild game and spruce trees in the area. An archaeological site is located nearby at Onion Portage. A post office was established in 1963 First Post Master was Sarah Tickett. The city was incorporated in 1971. The story of the prophet Maniilaq states that he predicted in the future a great whale would swim upriver and arrive at Ambler. Founding fathers were Harry Tickett, Truman Cleveland, Nelson Greist Sr, Mark Cleveland, Tommy Lee, Charlie Douglas and Tommy Douglas. Current 2023 Ambler IRA President Miles Cleveland Sr.

Transportation
Ambler's major means of transportation are by plane, small boat and snowmachine. There are no roads linking the city to other parts of the state. Ambler Airport, a State-owned 3,000' long by 60' wide lighted gravel airstrip, with a 2,400' long by 60' wide gravel crosswind airstrip, is located one and a half miles from the city. Bering Air, Hageland Aviation, and Ambler Air offer passenger flight service. In addition, daily scheduled services are provided out of Kotzebue, and air taxis provide charter flights. The airstrip has recently(written 2008) undergone major improvements. Boats are used for inter-village travel and subsistence activities. ATVs and snowmachines are commonly used in winter. In connection with plans to start mining, there are plans to build a 211 mi road from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler region.

Economy
Cash employment is limited to the school, City, clinic, and local stores, and some mining occurs. Five residents hold commercial fishing permits. Subsistence is a major part of the local economy. Chum salmon and caribou are the most important food sources. Freshwater fish, moose, bear, and berries are also harvested. Birch baskets, fur pelts, and jade, quartz, bone and ivory carvings are sold in gift shops throughout the state. The community is interested in developing a lapidary facility for local artisans. There are plans to start mining in the region. There are large deposits.

Demographics
Ambler first appeared on the 1960 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It formally incorporated in 1971.

As of the census of 2000, there were 309 people, 79 households, and 63 families residing in the city. The population density was 32.6 PD/sqmi. There were 98 housing units at an average density of 10.4 per square mile (4.0/km$2$). The racial makeup of the city was 12.94% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 84.79% Native American, and 1.94% from two or more races.

There were 79 households, out of which 54.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.6% were married couples living together, 25.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.0% were non-families. 16.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.91 and the average family size was 4.33.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 41.7% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $43,500, and the median income for a family was $43,571. Males had a median income of $30,625 versus $36,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,712. About 19.0% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under the age of 18 and 22.2% of those 65 or over.

Education
The Ambler School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 7 teachers and 69 students, with Alaska Natives making up 94% of the student body.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ambler, Alaska


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Buckland, Alaska

Buckland (Nunatchiaq) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 416, up from 406 in 2000. It takes its English name from the Buckland River, which in turn takes its name from Oxford University professor William Buckland.

Geography
Buckland is located at 65.98472°N, -161.12972°W (65.984795, -161.129717).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.4 sqmi, of which, 1.2 sqmi of it is land and 0.2 sqmi of it (13.48%) is water.

Demographics
Buckland first appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. Around 1950, residents relocated temporarily to Elephant Point (AKA Buckland Post Office) on Eschscholtz Bay, and Buckland did not report a population for the 1950 census (108 was reported for Elephant Point). Residents soon returned to Buckland, and it has reported in every successive census since 1960 and formally incorporated in 1966.

As of the census of 2000, there were 406 people, 84 households, and 75 families residing in the city. The population density was 332.3 PD/sqmi. There were 89 housing units at an average density of 72.8 per square mile (28.2/km$2$). The racial makeup of the city was 3.20% White, 95.81% Native American, and 0.99% from two or more races. 1.23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 84 households, out of which 66.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 20.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.7% were non-families. 8.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.83 and the average family size was 5.19.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 51.2% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 10.1% from 45 to 64, and 3.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 18 years. For every 100 females, there were 116.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $38,333, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $31,563 versus $27,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,624. About 7.9% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Education
The Buckland School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 168 students, with Alaska Natives making up 96% of the student body. The current school building opened in 2002.

title: Buckland, Alaska


text:
Deering, Alaska

Deering (Ipnatchiaq or Ipnasiaq) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on a sandy spit on the Seward Peninsula where the Inmachuk River flows into Kotzebue Sound, 92 km southwest of Kotzebue.

As of the 2020 census, the population was 182, up from 136 in 2000. , the city includes a community hall, a clinic run by the U.S. Public Health Service, a post office, a church, two stores, and a National Guard armory.

Culture
The inhabitants are primarily Iñupiat. The people are active in subsistence. The sale or importation of alcohol is banned in the city.

History
The city was established in 1901 as a supply station for interior gold mining called "Yutica" near the historic Malemiut Eskimo village of Inmachukmiut. The name probably comes from the schooner Abbie M. Deering, which was present in the area at that time; see. Deering incorporated as a second-class city in 1970. It also has a city council, organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

Geography
Deering is located at 66.07583°N, -162.71833°W (66.075713, -162.718229).

Climate
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.3 sqmi, of which, 5.1 sqmi of it is land and 0.1 sqmi of it (2.28%) is water.

Demographics
Deering first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census as an unincorporated city. It incorporated in 1970.

As of the census of 2000, there were 136 people, 42 households, and 28 families residing in the city. The population density was 26.5 PD/sqmi. There were 61 housing units at an average density of 11.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 93.38% Native American (Iñupiat), 5.88% White, and 0.74% from two or more races.

There were 42 households, out of which 40.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.4% were married couples living together, 33.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.24 and the average family size was 3.90.

In the city the age distribution of the population shows 39.7% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 17.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,333, and the median income for a family was $43,438. Males had a median income of $26,875 versus $25,625 for females. The per capita income for the village was $11,000. None of the families but 5.8% of the population were below the poverty line. No one under the age of 18 or over 64 were living below the poverty line.

The Abbie M. Deering
A first-hand account written by Captain James D. Winchester and published in 1900 tells that the Abbie M. Deering was bought by a company of twenty men who wanted to sail to the "Alaskan Gold Fields" during the Klondike Gold Rush. They left Lynn, Massachusetts in November 1897, passed through the Straits of Magellan, and arrived at San Francisco five months later, where they sold the ship. Records kept by the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior show the schooner did make it to Alaska, where it was lost in the Aleutian Islands in September 1903.

Rudyard Kipling's 1897 novel Captains Courageous mentions the Abbie M. Deering by name.

Education
The Deering School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 4 teachers and 50 students, with Alaska Natives making up 100% of the student body.

title: Deering, Alaska


text:
Kiana, Alaska

Kiana (Katyaak or Katyaaq) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 361, down from 388 in 2000.

Before contact
Kiana, meaning where three rivers meet, was founded several centuries ago. Before Kiana became a village, the Inupiat tended to travel with certain animal herds; constantly hunting for meat and furs.

In the 1800s, the Inupiaqs of Kiana used to live along the Kobuk River. Throughout the year the villagers hunted and fished near their houses. They moved to an area where there was an abundance of animals and fish. The Inupiaqs lived in houses made of sod; that is because they would follow where the animals would go.

When someone died inside the house they abandoned it, believing they would catch a contagious disease. Instead of building coffins or digging graves, the villagers wrapped the bodies of the deceased in cloths; they put poles in the cloths making the shape of a teepee.

Archaeological studies have been done on the local site 'Igliqtiqsiugvigruaq' (Swift Water Place) which was inhabited by the ancestors of the present day residents of Kiana from 1790 to 1810. The town consisted of burrowed homes connected by tunnels.

Early 20th century
The first white people arrived from the south with boats in 1898 and changed the way of life. They settled in what is now Kiana. More white people came in 1901 and 1902 and started building houses. Inupiaq women moved to them and married the men.

Archaeologists have discovered a pre-contact Inupiaq village near Kiana. From carbon dating, the archaeologists discovered the village was from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. After more digging was done, they found that some of the houses they excavated were connected with tunnels and passageways. The average house size in the village was about the size of typical one-roomed cabins. Some of the artifacts that were found include metal fragments and shards, as well as glass beads.

Kiana is the central village of the Kobuk river, for Kowagmiut Inupaiq Eskimos. Kiana became known to the Federal Government after a population increase, eventually making the town in to a city, in the year 1915. A United States Post Office was founded in the year 1964.

Before the post office was built, mail came only once a month. The mail transportation method was mainly by dogsled or by walking from one village to another. During that time, Kiana became a key supply city for coal and gold miners who were posted along the Squirrel River. The Blankenship Trading Post was managed by Walter Blankenship, and later by Robinson Blankenship and Ruth Blankenship Sandvik. The trading post was the only store with goods such as flour, salt, carbonated beverages, coffee, tea, sugar, and fruit, both dried and canned.

Language
The first villages in the region to start teaching the Inupiaq language in public school were Ambler, Shungnak, and Kobuk. Noorvik and the other villages around the region began teaching it as well. Viola Barr and Rosaline Jackson were the first people in Kiana to teach Inupiaq language in a classroom in 1971. Before white people came to the region, the children of Kiana grew up speaking the Inupiaq language. Most Kiana students and adults do not know how to read, write, or speak the language. The region is trying to get more people to speak the language so many more townspeople will be able to speak Inupiaq. Rosetta Stone and the Inupiaq Language Commission help with the effort.

Geography
Kiana is located at 66.97167°N, -160.43028°W (66.971720, -160.430168). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.2 sqmi, all of it land.

The village of Kiana is located where rivers meet: the Squirrel River, Kobuk River as well as big/small channel rivers. Kiana is in the Northwestern Alaska, 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and 57 air miles east of Kotzebue.

Climate
In Kiana, there are frequent storms and extreme temperature swings. There is also evidence of climate change occurring in the past 50 years. Evidence of rising temperatures each month, and increased precipitation (except July) has also been recorded. The snowfall is significant with about 60 inches per year and the rainfall is 16 inches on average. The Kobuk River is navigable by boat from May to October; it is frozen for the remainder of the year.

Demographics
Kiana first appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census as an unincorporated native village. It formally incorporated in 1964.

As of 2013, the total population in Kiana was 361, 101 occupied households, and 77 families. Average people per household: 3.

The median income for a household in 2011, was $39,688, and the median income for a family was $41,667. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $35,938 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,534. About 5.6% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.1% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
Kiana has a city administrator who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the facilities and to carry out the vision and the mission that is set forth by the City Council and the Mayor who are both elected by the citizens. The mayor's responsibility is to help set the focus of the Council.

Tom Cyrus was mayor of Kiana for 7 years, from 2003 to 2010. During that time, the city and traditional council worked closely. They chose to merge the two governments and formed a joint council since they were working with similar visions. The merged organization of governments held joint council meetings and planning sessions. They had one executive director, one accountant, and a city clerk. All administrative positions were moved into one building and they streamlined costs by not duplicating services. At that time, there was limited funding available to municipal governments and there were more opportunities for money through BIA funds and tribal government. In 2009, the goals began to change and it was decided to separate the two governments, with the goal of making the city and traditional governments financially solvent again.

Some of the issues that the mayor deals with include looking for funding, supervising the water and sewer plant, managing the village power, and dealing with wildlife in the community. The mayor also has to assist the council and community with long range planning. Kiana's current mayor, Brad Reich, became mayor when Tom Cyrus resigned in 2009. The full resignation took a year to go into effect and Reich become mayor.

Education
The Kiana School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it has 123 students, with Alaska natives making up 97% of the student body.

Transportation
There are several types and uses of transportation in and around Kiana which include travel over land and water. Types of land transportation used by the people in Kiana are all terrain vehicles, cars, trucks, and snow machines. They are used for getting around the village and just riding around.

Some vehicles are used to travel between villages. In the winter, an ice road is usually plowed or formed on the Kobuk River from Kiana to Noorvik; it extends all the way to Kotzebue. In the summer, the people of Kiana use the same routes on motor boats to get to other villages.

In all seasons, people use bush airplanes to get to all other villages in the region. Bob Baker Memorial Airport is located one mile from the city. Bering Air and Ravn Air provide service to Kotzebue and other locations. The barge system which services Kiana is Crowley Marine Services. CMS goes to Kiana every summer, bringing gas, fuel, and other products. Store owners use large boats to ship goods upriver.

The costs for transportation are very significant. For example, buying tickets on a bush plane and fuel costs are high. Bering Air charges $324 for round trip fare to Kotzebue, and $180 round trip to Noorvik. Ravn Air tickets are $240 round trip to Kotzebue and $160 round both ways to Noorvik. Gas prices vary. At the Kiana City Office, it costs $7.21 including tax for a gallon of gas. At Lee's Sea Air (the store in Kiana), it's $12 for a gallon.

title: Kiana, Alaska


text:
Kivalina, Alaska

Kivalina (kiv-uh-LEE-nuh) (Kivalliñiq) is a city and village in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 377 at the 2000 census and 374 as of the 2010 census.

The island on which the village lies is threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change. , it is predicted that the island will be inundated by 2025. In addition to well-publicized impacts of climate change, the Village of Kivalina has been a party in several environmentally related court cases.

History
Kivalina is an Inupiat community first reported as "Kivualinagmut" in 1847 by Lt. Lavrenty Zagoskin of the Imperial Russian Navy. It has long been a stopping place for travelers between Arctic coastal areas and Kotzebue Sound communities. Three bodies and artifacts were found in 2009 representing the Ipiutak culture, a pre-Thule, non-whaling civilization that disappeared over a millennium ago.

It is the only village in the region where people hunt the bowhead whale. The original village was located at the north end of the Kivalina Lagoon, but was relocated.

In about 1900, reindeer were brought to the area and some people were trained as reindeer herders.

An airstrip was built at Kivalina in 1960. Kivalina incorporated as a second-class city in 1969. During the 1970s, a new school and an electric system were constructed in the city.

On December 5, 2014, the only general store in Kivalina burned down. In July 2015, a newer store was opened after months of rebuilding to make the store more convenient and safe.

Geography
Kivalina is on the southern tip of a 12 km long barrier island located between the Chukchi Sea and a lagoon at the mouth of the Kivalina River. It lies 130 km northwest of Kotzebue. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.9 sqmi, of which, 1.9 sqmi of it is land and 2.0 sqmi of it (51.55%) is water.

Climate
Kivalina has a dry subarctic climate with long very cold winters and short cool summers. August is the wettest month of the year, while December is the snowiest month.

Demographics
Kivalina first appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census as an unincorporated (native) village. It formally incorporated in 1969.

As of the census of 2010, there were 374 people, and 99 households. The population density was 202.1 PD/sqmi. There were 80 housing units at an average density of 42.9 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the village was 3.45% White and 96.55% Native American. The Native Village of Kivalina is a federally recognized tribe with an elected tribal council. The City of Kivalina, organized under the Northwest Arctic Borough under the State of Alaska, has an elected mayor and city administrator and a 7-member city council. Per the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, NANA Corporation owns the surface and sub-surface rights to the city site and surrounding area. Manilaaq Association serves the community as an Alaska Native non-profit regional corporation providing social, tribal and health care services.

In 2010, there were 78 households, out of which 61.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.9% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.83 and the average family size was 5.50. In the village the population was spread out, with 44.0% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 20.7% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.1 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $30,833, and the median income for a family was $30,179. Males had a median income of $31,875 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income for the village was $8,360. About 25.4% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.9% of those under age 18 and 30.0% of those age 65 or over.

Environmental issues
Due to severe sea wave erosion during storms, the city hopes to relocate again to a new site 12 km from the present site; studies of alternate sites are ongoing. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the estimated cost of relocation runs between $95 and $125 million, whereas the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates it to be between $100 and $400 million. Since the temperatures in the Arctic as rising is it heavily impacting the Kivalina community. The sea ice that was once there helping to protect the city has now disappeared. Due to these rising sea levels maybe people are out of homes and since resources are becoming scarce it is leading to overcrowding and poor sanitation.

In 2011, Haymarket Books published "Kivalina: A Climate Change Story" by Christine Shearer.

Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corporation
The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native Village of Kivalina, sued ExxonMobil, eight other oil companies, 14 power companies and one coal company in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco on February 26, 2008, claiming that the large amounts of greenhouse gases they emit contribute to global warming that threatens the community's existence. The lawsuit estimated the cost of relocation at $400 million. The suit was dismissed by the United States district court on September 30, 2009, on the grounds that regulating greenhouse emissions was a political rather than a legal issue and one that needed to be resolved by Congress and the Administration rather than by courts.

Kivalina v Teck Cominco
In 2004, Kivalina sued Canadian mining company Teck Cominco, operator of the Red Dog Mine, for polluting its water drinking water source and subsistence fish resources through their discharge of mine waste into the Wulik River. Teck Cominco settled the suit in 2008 by agreeing to build a wastewater pipeline from the mine to the ocean that would bypass discharging into the Wulik River. However, the pipeline was not constructed and the alternative settlement clause was followed.

Kivalina v. US EPA
In 2010, the Native Village of Kivalina IRA Council brought suit against the US EPA for failing to adequately address public comments in their permitting of the Red Dog Mine discharge plan under the National Pollutant Discharge Elilmination System (NPDES). In 2012, the US Ninth Circuit court upheld the decision of the EPA Appeals Board to not review the permit, citing the insufficiency of the Tribe's argument.

Orange goo
On August 4, 2011, it was reported that residents of the city of Kivalina had seen a strange orange goo wash up on the shores. According to the Associated Press, "Tests have been conducted on the substance on the surface of the water in Kivalina. City Administrator Janet Mitchell told the Associated Press that the substance has also shown up in some residents' rain buckets." On August 8, 2011, Associated Press reported that the substance consisted of millions of microscopic eggs. Later, officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that the orange colored materials were some kind of crustacean eggs or embryos,  but subsequent examination resulted in a declaration that the substance consisted of spores from a possibly undescribed species of rust fungus, later revealed to be Chrysomyxa ledicola.

Sea level rise and coastal erosion
On numerous occasions the community has been inundated by storm surges and been forced to evacuate. While the risk of inundation from sea water has always existed, storms caused extensive flooding in 1970, 1976, 2002, 2004, and spurred a village-wide evacuation in 2007. To slow erosion, the US Army Corps of Engineers conducted a rip-rap revetment project along the tip of the barrier island and adjacent to the airport.

Other climate change impacts
In addition to increased flooding from storm surges, bank erosion along the Wulik River causes increased turbidity which affects the city's drinking water source and complicates water treatment.

Relocation
Due to severe sea wave erosion during storms, the city hopes to relocate again to a new site 12 km (7.5 mi) from the present site. In 2009, Kivalina was identified by a GAO report as one of 31 environmentally threatened communities in Alaska. Relocation to a site off the barrier island to higher ground has had little progress. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the estimated cost of relocation runs between $95 and $125 million, whereas the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates it to be between $100 and $400 million. In 2018, a decision was made to build an evacuation road across the Kivalina Lagoon to provide a means for the community to escape devastating storms that can inundate the barrier island. Additionally, the road will connect the village with the proposed new school site on K-Hill.

Kivalina in the media
Kivalina's environmental issues were prominently featured in The 2015 Weather Channel documentary "Alaska: State of Emergency" hosted by Dave Malkoff. Kivalina was one of the two towns featured in the Al Jazeera English Fault Lines documentary, When the Water Took the Land. The community, who were originally nomadic, were given an ultimatum that they would have to settle in the permanent community or their children would be taken from them. The village's plight was also examined in Kivalina, an hourlong documentary released as part of the PBS World series America ReFramed. The Atlantic did a photo journalism story documenting climate change in Kivalina in their September 2019 article, The Impact of Climate Change on Kivalina, Alaska.

Education
The McQueen School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 141 students, with Alaska Natives making up 100% of the student body.

title: Kivalina, Alaska


text:
Kobuk, Alaska

Kobuk (Laugviik) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 151, up from 109 in 2000.

History
Kobuk was founded in 1899 as the village of Shungnak, a supply point for miners north of the Kobuk River in the Cosmos Hills. A trading post, school, and mission were built and residents came to the settlement. In the 1920s, river erosion led many residents to relocate ten miles downstream (west) to a site called "Kochuk." Kochuk became the new Shungnak, while the original Shungnak became Kobuk in 1928.

In May 1973, a flood covered the entire village. In September of the same year, it incorporated as a city.

The economy of Kobuk is based on subsistence hunting for caribou and moose.

The first postmaster at Kobuk (when it was still called Shungnak) was Martin F. Moran, appointed September 24, 1903.

Geography and climate
Kobuk has a typical subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfc), bordering on a dry-winter subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification: Dwc).

Kobuk is located at 66.9175°N, -156.90694°W (66.917579, -156.906829).

Kobuk is located on the bank of the Kobuk River, 10 km northeast of Shungnak. It is near Kobuk Valley National Park.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.8 sqmi, of which, 16.1 sqmi of it is land and 0.7 sqmi of it (4.34%) is water.

The coldest temperature recorded in Kobuk was -68°F (-56°C) on March 1, 1971. Kobuk holds the record for the coldest temperature to ever be recorded in the United States in March.

Demographics
Kobuk first appeared on the 1910 U.S. Census under its previous name of Shungnak, an unincorporated village. It appeared again on the 1920 U.S. Census. With the departure of many residents in 1927 to the "New" Shungnak site, the old site was renamed Kobuk in 1928. It did not appear on the 1930 census, but did beginning again in 1940. In 1970, Kobuk was erroneously reported as the unincorporated "Shungnak Village" (not to be confused with its neighbor city). In 1973, Kobuk was formally incorporated and has reported as Kobuk in every successive census since 1980.

As of the census of 2000, there were 109 people, 26 households, and 23 families residing in the city. The population density was 6.8 PD/sqmi. There were 45 housing units at an average density of 2.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 4.59% White, 93.58% Native American, 0.92% Asian, 0.92% from other races. 4.59% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 26 households, out of which 61.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 30.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 11.5% were non-families. 11.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.19 and the average family size was 4.26.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 52.3% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 18.3% from 25 to 44, 17.4% from 45 to 64, and 2.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 17 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,750, and the median income for a family was $20,313. Males had a median income of $71,250 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,844. There were 32.0% of families and 28.6% of the population living below the poverty line, including 28.2% of under eighteens and 57.1% of those over 64.

Education
The Kobuk School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 44 students, with Alaska Natives making up 100% of the student body.

title: Kobuk, Alaska


text:
Kotzebue, Alaska

Kotzebue or Qikiqtaġruk  is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing the borough. The population of the city was 3,102 as of the 2020 census, down from 3,201 in 2010.

Etymology and prehistory
Owing to its location and relative size, Kotzebue served as a trading and gathering center for the various communities in the region. The Noatak, Selawik and Kobuk Rivers drain into the Kotzebue Sound near Kotzebue to form a center for transportation to points inland. In addition to people from interior villages, inhabitants of far-eastern Asia, now the Russian Far East, came to trade at Kotzebue. Furs, seal-oil, hides, rifles, ammunition, and seal skins were some of the items traded. People also gathered for competitions like the current World Eskimo Indian Olympics. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, gold seekers, and missionaries the trading center expanded.

Kotzebue is also known as Qikiqtaġruk, which means "small island" or "resembles an island" in the Iñupiaq language. In the words of the late Iñupiaq elder Blanche Qapuk Lincoln of Kotzebue: "Iḷiḷgaaŋukapta tamarra pamna imiqaqtuq. Taavaasii kuuqahuni taiñña Adams-kutlu Ipaaluk-kutlu, taapkuak piagun tavra. Taiñña suli Katyauratkutlu, Lena Norton tupqata piagun tavra kuuk suli taugani...Manna uvva qikiqtaq, Qikiqtaġruŋmik tavra atiqautiginiġaa qikiqtaupluni. Nunałhaiñġuqtuq marra pakma. ('When we were children there was water behind front street and a slough between the Ipalooks and Adams'. There was another slough over between Coppocks and Lena Norton's house...The island on Front Street led to Kotzebue being called Qikiqtaġruk because island in Iñupiaq is called qikiqtaq.')."

Kotzebue gets its name from the Kotzebue Sound, which was named after Otto von Kotzebue, a Baltic German who explored the sound while searching for the Northwest Passage in the service of Russia in 1818.

19th century
A United States post office was established in 1899.

20th century
In 1958, Kotzebue Air Force Station was completed. The radar site would be operated by on-site personnel until its deactivation in 1983 and the subsequent demolition of most of the station's structures. The radome continues to operate, but is now mostly unattended.

During 1990, the German drama film Salmonberries starring k.d. lang was mostly shot in Kotzebue.

In 1997, three 66-kw wind turbines were installed in Kotzebue, creating the northernmost wind farm in the United States. Today, the wind farm consists of 19 turbines, including two 900 kW EWT turbines. The total installed capacity has reached 3-MW, displacing approximately 250,000 gallons of diesel fuel every year.

21st century
On September 2, 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech on global warming in Kotzebue, becoming the first sitting president to visit a site north of the Arctic Circle.

Since 2016, the United States Coast Guard has deployed MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters to Kotzebue from the beginning of July to the end of October as part of Operation Arctic Shield.

In 2017, the city received an All-America City award from the National Civic League.

On December 3, 2018, Mike Dunleavy was sworn in as the 12th governor of Alaska in Kotzebue's high school gymnasium after inclement weather thwarted his plan to hold the ceremony in Noorvik.

In November 2023, ProPublica and Anchorage Daily News released an investigative report of domestic abuse and potential murders in Kotzebue involving six indigenous women who had dated Mayor Clement Richards Sr's three sons, resulting in a total of 16 charges that were ultimately dismissed by local prosecutors or received minimum sentences by local judicial magistrates. While a state medical examiner stated for one of the women that there were "signs of strangulation", the local police eventually closed the case as suicide. In January 2024, the police released a statement saying they would not be re-opening the case, with their timeline of events in the statement contradicting events that occurred just after the woman's death. The city police said the other case of strangulation on the Mayor's property was referred to state investigators, though the Alaska Department of Public Safety said no such case was ever given to them.

Geography
Kotzebue lies on a gravel spit at the end of the Baldwin Peninsula in the Kotzebue Sound. It is located at 66.89722°N, -162.58556°W (66.897192, −162.585444), approximately 30 mi from Noatak, Kiana, and other nearby smaller communities. It is 33 mi north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska's western coast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.7 sqmi, of which 27.0 sqmi is land, and 1.6 sqmi, or 5.76%, is water.

Kotzebue is home to the NANA Regional Corporation, one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of Alaska Native land claims.

Kotzebue is a gateway to Kobuk Valley National Park and other natural attractions of northern Alaska. The Northwest Arctic Heritage Center, operated by the National Park Service, serves as a community meeting space and visitor center to Kobuk Valley National Park, Noatak National Preserve and Cape Krusenstern National Monument. Nearby Selawik National Wildlife Refuge also maintains office space in the town.

Climate
Kotzebue has a dry subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc), with long, somewhat snowy, and very cold winters, and short, mild summers; diurnal temperature variation is low to minimal throughout the year, with an annual normal of 11.6 F-change and a minimum normal of 8.0 F-change in October. Monthly daily average temperatures range from −1.9 °F in January to 55.3 °F in July, with an annual mean of 24.0 °F. Days with the maximum reaching at or above 70 °F can be expected an average of six days per summer. Precipitation is both most frequent and greatest during the summer months with August the wettest month averaging 2.13 in. Kotzebue average precipitation is 11.36 in per year. Snowfall averages about 64.2 in a season (July through June of the next year). Extreme temperatures have ranged from −58 °F on March 16, 1930, to 85 °F as recently as June 19, 2013. The coldest has been January 1934 with a mean temperature of −27.3 F, while the warmest month was July 2009 at 60.0 F; the annual mean temperature has ranged from 16.5 F in 1964 to 29.7 F in 2016.

 * Notes:

Demographics
Kotzebue first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census under its predecessor unincorporated Inuit village named "Kikiktagamute." It did not appear again until 1910, then as Kotzebue. It formally incorporated in 1958.

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,082 people, 889 households, and 656 families residing in the city. The population density was 114.1 PD/sqmi. There were 1,007 housing units at an average density of 37.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 71.2% American Indian, 19.5% White, 1.8% Asian, 0.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 6.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population.

There were 889 households, out of which 50.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 17.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40 and the average family size was 3.93.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 39.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 17.2% from 45 to 64, and 4.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $57,163, and the median income for a family was $58,068. Males had a median income of $42,604 versus $36,453 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,289. About 9.2% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
Kotzebue's Ralph Wien Memorial Airport is the one airport in the Northwest Arctic Borough with regularly scheduled large commercial passenger aircraft service to and from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and the Nome Airport.

Health care
Kotzebue is home to the Maniilaq Association, a tribally-operated health and social services organization named after Maniilaq and part of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Maniilaq Health Center is the primary health care facility for the residents of the Northwest Arctic Borough. The facility houses an emergency room with local and medevac support for accident/trauma victims, as well as an ambulatory care clinic, dental and eye care clinics, a pharmacy, a specialty clinic, and an inpatient wing with 17 beds for recovering patients.

Health care providers at Maniilaq Health Center provide telemedicine support to Community Health Aides (CHAPs) in the outlying villages of the Northwest Arctic Borough. The CHAPs, who work in village-based clinics, are trained in basic health assessment and can treat common illnesses. For more complicated cases, the CHAPs communicate with Maniilaq Health Center medical staff via phone, video-conference, and digital images.

Media
The Arctic Sounder is a weekly newspaper published by Alaska Media, LLC, which covers Kotzebue and the rest of the Northwest Arctic Borough along with the North Slope Borough (and its hub community of Utqiagvik).

KOTZ, broadcasting at 720 on the AM dial, is the public radio station serving Kotzebue, one of two Class A clear-channel stations in the United States at that frequency (the other being Chicago's WGN). KOTZ operates an extensive translator network serving the rest of the borough.

Education
Northwest Arctic Borough School District operates two schools in Kotzebue: June Nelson Elementary School (JNES) and Kotzebue Middle High School (KMHS). they had 394 and 309 students, making them the largest schools in the district.

There is one private school run by the Native Village of Kotzebue called Nikaitchuat Iḷisaġviat. It is an Inupiaq language immersion school for grades PK through one.

University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) operates their Chukchi Campus which offers classes, a library and other community services.

Notable people

 * Willie Hensley (born 1941), former state Representative, former state Senator, one of key founders of NANA Regional Corporation, instrumental in the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
 * Reggie Joule (born 1952), who represented Kotzebue and surrounding area in the Alaska House of Representatives for eight terms followed by a single term as borough mayor, achieved minor national fame during the 1970s and 1980s for his exploits in the World Eskimo Indian Olympics, including two appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
 * Seth Kantner, novelist
 * John Lincoln (born 1981), member of the Alaska House of Representatives
 * Segundo Llorente (1906–1989), Spanish-born Jesuit, philosopher, author and politician
 * Adam Stennett (born 1972), painter
 * John Baker (c. 1962), winner of the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Toxins
Although no "toxic releases" come from within the bounds of Kotzebue, the methods used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s in their Toxic Releases Inventory (TRI) reports that in 2016, Kotzebue, with only 7,500 inhabitants, "produced" 756 million pounds of toxins.(Due to the way the EPA defines toxins, even the discharge of filtered and pH balanced water is called a toxin.) The TRI placed Kotzebue as the most toxic place in the United States. The second most toxic was Bingham Canyon, Utah at 200 million pounds of toxins. However, as National Geographic explains, the source of the toxins is not Kotzebue, but Alaska's Red Dog mine. Since the mine is located in a remote area in Alaska, the toxic release is linked to the nearest "city"— Kotzebue. The EPA says that when a "facility" is "not located in a city, town, village, or similar entity will often list a nearby city." National Geographic says that, "All 756 million pounds of toxic chemicals attributed to "Kotzebue" on the TRI dataset came from one of the world's largest zinc and lead mines, the Red Dog mine, which is located about 80 miles north of Kotzebue." At the county level the Northwest Arctic of Alaska leads the list with 756,000,000 pounds of toxins. The state of Alaska produces three times more toxins than every other American state—834 million pounds.

title: Kotzebue, Alaska


text:
Noatak, Alaska

Noatak (Nuataaq) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 570 at the 2020 census, up from 514 in 2010. It is served by Noatak Airport.

History
Noatak was established as a fishing and hunting camp in the 1800s. Two identifiable groups of Inupiat resided on the Noatak River. The Nautaaġmiut (called "Noatagamut" in the 1880 census), Inupiaq for "inland river people", lived upriver, and the Napaaqtuġmiut, meaning "people of the trees", lived downriver. By the early 20th century, the missionaries Robert and Carrie Samms settled in what they called "Noatak". A United States post office was established in 1940.

Geography
Noatak is located at 67.57194°N, -162.975°W (67.572031, -162.975085).

Noatak is located on the west bank of the Noatak River, 81 km north of Kotzebue. It is 102 km north of the Arctic Circle. Noatak village lies near the western boundary of the 6.6 e6acre Noatak National Preserve and is the only settlement on the over 400 mi long Noatak River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 12.2 sqmi, of which, 11.6 sqmi of it is land and 0.7 sqmi of it (5.40%) is water.

Demographics
Noatak first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an unincorporated Inuit village of "Noatagamute." All 400 of its residents were Inuit. It did not return again until 1910, this time as Noatak. It has returned on every successive census to date. It was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980.

As of the census of 2000, there were 428 people, 100 households, and 90 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 37.0 PD/sqmi. There were 106 housing units at an average density of 9.2 /mi2. The racial makeup of the CDP was 3.74% White, 0.23% Black or African American, 93.69% Native American, and 2.34% from two or more races. 0.23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 100 households, out of which 69.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 22.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.0% were non-families. 9.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.28 and the average family size was 4.51.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 42.5% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 12.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.5 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $30,833, and the median income for a family was $31,667. Males had a median income of $25,833 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $9,659. About 25.0% of families and 22.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.9% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
Noatak has a 4000 ft gravel public airstrip and is primarily reached by air. No road goes to Noatak. Snowmobiles, ATV's, and small boats are important means of inter-village travel and for local subsistence activities.

Facilities
The Napaaqtugmiut School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. Its current building opened in 2008. it had 177 students, with Alaska Natives making up 95% of the student body.

title: Noatak, Alaska


text:
Noorvik, Alaska

Noorvik (Nuurvik, meaning "A place to move to") is an Iñupiat city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 694, up from 668 in 2010. Located in the NANA Region Corp, Noorvik has close ties with the largest city in the region, Kotzebue. Residents speak a dialect of Iñupiaq known as Noorvik Inupiaq. Noorvik was the first town to be counted in the 2010 census.

Geography
Noorvik is located at 66.83722°N, -161.03667°W (66.837130, -161.036641).

Noorvik is located on the right bank of the Nazuruk Channel of the Kobuk River, 76 km east of Kotzebue.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.3 sqmi, of which, 1.0 sqmi of it is land and 0.4 sqmi of it (28.36%) is water.

Demographics
Noorvik first appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It formally incorporated in 1964.

As of the census of 2000, there were 634 people in 136 households, including 113 families, in the city. The population density was 658.7 PD/sqmi. There were 157 housing units at an average density of 163.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 4.89% White, 90.06% Native American, 4.89% from two or more races, and 0.16% Pacific Islander.

Of the 136 households 58.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 18.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.9% were non-families. 14.7% of households were one person and 1.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 4.66 and the average family size was 5.19.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 44.5% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 11.5% from 45 to 64, and 7.3% 65 or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females, there were 135.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 134.7 males.

The median household income was $51,964 and the median family income was $52,708. Males had a median income of $34,750 versus $24,583 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,020. About 9.4% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.6% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

History
Noorvik means "a place that is moved to" in Inupiaq. The village was established by Kowagmuit Inupiat fishermen and hunters from Deering in the early 1900s. Other settlers came from Oksik, a few miles upriver. The area had previously been inhabited by Kuuŋmuit Inuit up until the beginning of the 20th century, whose organized settlements had largely disappeared by the turn of the century due to famine and a flu outbreak. However, the village tribal association has founded itself on "the legacy of the Kuuŋmuit Inuit," including basing their logo on a map of the Kuuŋmuit's former territory.

Education
The Aqqaluk Noorvik School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 12 teachers and 186 students, with Alaska Natives and Native Americans, making up 94% and 1% of the student body respectively

Transport
The city includes the Robert (Bob) Curtis Memorial Airport, also known as the Noorvik Airport, 1 mile southeast from the city.

title: Noorvik, Alaska


text:
Red Dog Mine, Alaska

Red Dog Mine is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Northwest Arctic Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 5 at the 2020 census, down from 309 in 2010.

Economy
The Red Dog mine is the only economic activity and the mine is the only inhabited site within the Red Dog Mine CDP.

Mining
The Red Dog Mine CDP derives its name from the Red Dog mine, the United States' largest source for zinc and a significant source of lead and germanium. Construction of the Red Dog mine began in 1987, after exploration revealed that the area was rich in metals.

The Red Dog ore body is one of the world's most significant zinc deposits, containing a number of ore bodies. The mine is located in Alaska's Northwest Arctic Borough, in the DeLong Mountains of the western Brooks Range, 90 miles north of Kotzebue and 55 miles from the Chukchi Sea.

At the end of 2007, the site's proven and probable reserves plus indicated resources amounted to 77.5 million tons, containing 17.5 percent zinc and 4.8 percent lead, as well as 2.8 ounces per ton of silver. In addition, Red Dog also contains 36.6 million tons of inferred resources. The entire deposit lies inside a relatively small area (one mile by one-half mile). The deposit is essentially flat-lying at the surface, making open pit mining the extraction method of choice.

Geography
Red Dog Mine is located at. It is in the DeLong Mountains in the remote western Brooks Range about 90 mi north of Kotzebue and 55 mi from the Chukchi Sea.

Red Dog Mine is very isolated. It is located within the Northwest Arctic Borough, an area approximately the size of Indiana with only 11 communities, none connected by roads, with a total population of only 7,523 people at the 2010 census. The nearest of those communities are Noatak, population 514, roughly 50 mi south and Kivalina, population 374, roughly 60 mi west at the 2010 census.

Although native populations have historically used the nearby area for seasonal food-gathering, there are no permanent residents at the mine or the port site. The mine's workforce consists of about 460 employees and contractors, of which somewhat more than half will be on-site at any given time. At the mine, everyone stays in the single large housing unit, tucked in among the process buildings near the edge of the open pit, while a small portion of the work force stays at the port site.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 66.9 sqmi, all land.

Climate
The climate type of Red Dog Mine belongs to the subarctic climate (Köppen: Dwc), which is mainly characterized by cold and long winters and warm and short summers. June and July are the warmest months of the year and the only months with average temperatures above 50 F. In midsummer, daytime temperatures average around 61 F, while in winter, nighttime temperatures average around 0 F. In summer, there are 13 days with highs of 70 F each year; in winter, there are 76 days with lows below 0 F. Temperature extremes ranged from -43 F on February 1, 2012, to 87 F on June 19, 2013.

Demographics
Red Dog Mine first appeared on the 2000 U.S. Census as a census-designated place (CDP).

As of the census of 2000, there were 32 people, 0 households, and 0 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 0.5 PD/sqmi. There were 0 housing units. The racial makeup of the CDP was 31.25% White, 65.62% Native American, and 3.12% from two or more races.

In the CDP, the age distribution of the population shows 18.8% from 18 to 24, 62.5% from 25 to 44, and 18.8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 700.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 700.0 males.

The median income for both males and females in the CDP was $0. The per capita income for the CDP was $34,438. 37.9% of the population were living below the poverty line.

Transportation
A 55 mi haul road connects the mine pit to its seaport on the Chukchi Sea. Concentrated lead and zinc powder are trucked year-round from the mine to a storage area near the port, but vessels are only able to reach the pier about 100 days a year when the area is ice-free.

The rest of the year, the area is only accessible only by air, served by the Red Dog Airport. Mine workers from remote villages in the region are ferried to the mine on small aircraft. Alaska Airlines is contracted by the mine to fly other mine workers out of Anchorage.

title: Red Dog Mine, Alaska


text:
Selawik, Alaska

Selawik (Iñupiaq: Siiḷ(i)vik or Akuliġaq; Селавик) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 829, up from 772 in 2000.

Selawik comes from siiḷivik, which means "place of sheefish" in Inupiaq.

Geography
Selawik is located at 66.59694°N, -160.01361°W (66.597043, -160.013674).

Selawik is located at the mouth of the Selawik River where it empties into Selawik Lake, about 112 km southeast of Kotzebue.

Selawik is near the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, a breeding and resting area for migratory waterfowl.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.4 sqmi, of which, 2.5 sqmi of it is land and 0.9 sqmi of it (26.24%) is water.

Demographics
Selawik first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated Inuit village of "Selawigamute." All 100 residents were Inuit. It did not appear again on the census until 1920, that time as Selawik. It has appeared on every successive census to date. It formally incorporated in 1963.

As of the census of 2000, there were 772 people, 172 households, and 147 families residing in the city. The population density was 306.1 PD/sqmi. There were 188 housing units at an average density of 74.5 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 3.24% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 94.82% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, and 0.91% from two or more races. 0.13% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 172 households, out of which 68.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.9% were married couples living together, 29.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.5% were non-families. 12.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.49 and the average family size was 4.78.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 48.1% under the age of 18, 12.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 10.6% from 45 to 64, and 5.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 19 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,625, and the median income for a family was $27,639. Males had a median income of $50,278 versus $40,417 for females. The per capita income for the city was $8,170. About 34.6% of families and 34.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.2% of those under age 18 and 22.7% of those age 65 or over.

History
A Lt. Lavrenty Zagoskin of the Imperial Russian Navy first reported the village in the 1840s as "Chilivik." In his census study in 1880, Ivan Petrof counted 100 "Selawigamute" people.

Around 1908, the village site had a small wooden schoolhouse and church. The village now has expanded across the Selawik River onto three banks, linked by bridges.

Education
The Davis-Ramoth Memorial School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had about 270 students, with Alaska Natives making up the majority.

title: Selawik, Alaska


text:
Shungnak, Alaska

Shungnak (Isiŋnaq or Nuurviuraq) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 262, up from 256 in 2000.

History
Shungnak originally was settled in 1899, approximately 10 miles to the east along the Kobuk River. The name "Shungnak" is derived from Iñupiaq term Isiŋnaq which means jade, a stone found in the surrounding area. In the 1920s, erosion along the river caused many residents to abandon the old townsite. In 1927, they resettled at a site originally known as "Kochuk." Residents decided to rename Kochuk as the new Shungnak. At the old Shungnak village, some residents chose to remain. To avoid confusion between the two villages, Old Shungnak became Kobuk in 1928.

Shungnak officially incorporated in 1967.

Geography
Shungnak is located at 66.88585°N, -157.13746°W

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.6 sqmi, of which 8.4 sqmi is land and 1.3 sqmi of it (13.10%) is water.

The town is located about 150 miles east of Kotzebue.

Demographics
The present Shungnak first appeared on the 1930 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. The Shungnak listed on the 1910 and 1920 censuses was for the Old Shungnak, which became Kobuk in 1928. This Shungnak has reported on every census since 1930. It was formally incorporated as a city in 1967.

As of the census of 2000, there were 256 people, 56 households, and 51 families residing in the city. The population density was 30.6 PD/sqmi. There were 64 housing units at an average density of 7.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 5.47% White and 94.53% Alaska Native.

Of those 56 households, 66.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 8.9% were non-families. In addition, 7.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 1.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.57 and the average family size was 4.53.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 48.4% under the age of 18; 8.6% from 18 to 24; 23.8% from 25 to 44; 12.9% from 45 to 64; and 6.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 19 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,375, and the median income for a family was $41,000. Males had a median income of $25,750 versus $33,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,377. About 21.7% of families and 35.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.2% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

Economics
Shungnak has a “mixed economy” in which market, subsistence, and public sectors all contribute to individual well-being. The most comprehensive community economy data come from household surveys by the Division of Subsistence in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The Division administered a comprehensive socio-economic survey to 46 of 69 Shungnak households (66.7%) in 2013. For the calendar year 2012, ADF&G estimated a total community income of $4.1 million, with a median household income of $50,091. Estimated per capita income in 2012 was $15,009. Earned income contributed an estimated 71% of the total, including income from local government (26.7%), services (22.0%), and mining (11.3%). Other (unearned) income contributed an estimated 28.7% of the total, including Native corporation dividends (6.7%), food stamps (5.6%), and the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (4.9%). For comparison, in 2021 the American Community Survey estimated the five-year median household income in Shungnak to be $60,938 (±$8,736).

For calendar year 2012, the ADF&G survey estimated that Shungnak residents harvested 100,872 lb (±30%) of wild food, or about 368 lb per person. The top five wild foods by estimated edible weight were caribou (53,802 lb, 53% of the total), sheefish (17,334 lb, 17%), chum salmon (14,747 lb, 15%), broad whitefish (2,842 lb, 3%), and moose (2,421 lb, 2%). All of surveyed households reported harvesting at least one kind of wild food for personal or family consumption. On average, households reported harvesting 7 and using 13 kinds of wildlife foods (the most reported by a single household was 27 kinds of wild food).

The ADF&G survey included questions intended to assess households’ food security. During the 2012 study year, an estimated 86% of Shungnak Households were identified as being food secure. Of the remaining households, 7% exhibited low food security, and 7% had very low food security. The percentage of food-secure households in Shungnak was about the same as in the United States overall, and slightly lower than in the State of Alaska overall (88%). However, the percentage of households in Shungnak reporting “very low” food security was higher in Shungnak (7%) than in the nation (6%) or in the State of Alaska (4%).

The Division of Subsistence administered a similar comprehensive survey in Shungnak in 2003.

Facilities
The Shungnak School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community. it had 7 teachers and 86 students, with Alaska Natives making up 95% of the student body.

The source of municipal water is from a reservoir intermittently filled from the Kobuk River. Previously, there was a water infiltration gallery that was destroyed by ice. Groundwater wells have proven unsuccessful.

The town has a 4,001-ft gravel runway owned by the state of Alaska. In the summer of 2006, only part of a fuel shipment was able to be delivered by barge and the remainder of the town's fuel needs had to be supplied by air. This resulted in the price of gasoline rising to $8.10 per gallon at the town's only filling station in 2006–07.

A hybrid solar-plus-storage microgrid, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Northwest Arctic Borough, supplements diesel power generation. The hybrid solar-plus-storage microgrid utilizes 384 kWh total capacity of energy storage solution and 225 kW solar array.

title: Shungnak, Alaska


text:
Coffman Cove, Alaska

Coffman Cove (Lingít: Tatxánk ) is a city in Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Alaska, in the United States. Located on Prince of Wales Island, its population was 176 at the 2010 census, down from 199 in 2000.

Geography
Coffman Cove is located at 56.01222°N, -132.82889°W (56.012137, -132.828840).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.9 sqmi, of which, 10.4 sqmi of it is land and 4.5 sqmi of it (30.03%) is water.

Demographics
Coffman Cove first appeared on the 1980 U.S. Census as a census-designated place (CDP). It was incorporated as a city in 1989.

As of the census of 2000, there were 199 people, 63 households, and 42 families residing in the city. The population density was 19.2 people per square mile (7.4/km$2$). There were 99 housing units at an average density of 9.5 per square mile (3.7/km$2$). The racial makeup of the city was 87.44% White, 0.50% Black or African American, 2.51% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 5.03% from other races, and 4.02% from two or more races. 1.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 63 households, out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 21.1% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 32.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 168.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 180.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $43,750, and the median income for a family was $44,861. Males had a median income of $52,031 versus $31,250 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,249. About 6.7% of families and 4.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 21.4% of those 65 or over.

Climate
Usual for Southeast Alaska, it has either an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) using the -3 °C isotherm or a warm-summer humid continental climate  (Köppen climate classification: Dfb) when the 0 °C isotherm is utilised. Also usual for Southeast Alaska, the area is a temperate rainforest, with high levels of precipitation, as well as mild summers alongside cold winters (although mild by Alaskan standards, especially when compared to cities like Fairbanks).

Air
Klawock Airport is the only airport on Prince of Wales Island serving wheeled aircraft. Regular scheduled and charter float planes provide service to many of the island's coastal communities, including Coffman Cove. Scheduled service to Coffman Cove is provided by Taquan Air.

Ferry
On March 12, 2009, the Inter-Island Ferry Authority announced that ferry service to Coffman Cove would be suspended for the remainder of 2009.

As of June 2020, one can take the ferry into Coffman Cove with the Alaska Marine Hi-way from Bellingham, Washington or Prince Rupert, Canada with connections in Ketchikan, Alaska on the Inter Island Authority (IFA) into Hollis.

Roads
Prince of Wales island's road system is composed primarily of forest logging roads, with the more heavily traveled routes between island communities upgraded. Many of the roads on the island have been upgraded and paved. Coffman Cove and other communities are now connected by wide, modern roads well bedded, paved with asphalt.

Shuttles and taxis
There are a few shuttle bus or taxi cab companies (based in Craig & Klawock) providing regular service between Coffman Cove & the Hollis ferry terminal and the other island communities.

Education
Southeast Island School District operates Howard Valentine Coffman Cove School.

title: Coffman Cove, Alaska


text:
Craig, Alaska

Craig is a city in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area in the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population was 1,036 at the 2020 census, down from 1,201 in 2010.

Geography
Craig is the largest town on Prince of Wales Island, the fourth-largest island in the United States. Craig is approximately 56 mi by air northwest of Ketchikan and 220 mi south of Juneau.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.4 sqmi, of which, 6.7 sqmi of it is land and 2.7 sqmi of it (28.94%) is water.

Climate
Craig has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). Summers are mild with cool nights, while winters are chilly and wet. Precipitation is abundant year-round but is heaviest in autumn.

History
Originally, Craig's townsite was a temporary fishing camp used for gathering herring.

Name
Craig was named after Craig Miller (also spelled Millar) who established a fish saltery on nearby Fish Egg Island in 1907 with the assistance of the local Haida natives who moved onto Prince of Wales Island, being driven from Haida Gwaii (British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands) starting in the 18th century. Craig Miller constructed a cold storage plant and packing company at the present site of Craig, and in 1922 was instrumental in the incorporation of the city (originally as an Alaska second-class city within the Alaska Territory, pre-statehood).

Growth
The commercial fishing industry was responsible for Craig's relatively large population compared to neighboring communities. In the 1930s, record pink salmon runs brought many new settlers. The 1950s saw a collapse of the fishing industry because of depleted salmon populations. In 1972, a large sawmill was established nearby providing a steady source of year-round employment. Today, Craig relies on commercial fishing, fish processing, and the timber industry.

1982 deaths
On September 7, 1982, the fishing boat Investor was found burning off the coast of Craig, and the boat's passengers and crew were found to have been killed. Due to the badly burned state of the bodies, investigators were only certain that they had recovered the remains of seven bodies, but a coroner's jury ruled that all eight who were aboard the boat had been killed. The boat's owner, Mark Coulthurst, from Blaine, Washington, his wife Irene, and their two young children were among the victims. In September 1984, a suspect, John Kenneth Peel, from Bellingham, Washington, was arrested for the murders. Peel's first trial ended in a hung jury, and his retrial, in 1988, ended in his acquittal. In 2017, Tim DeSpain, spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers stated that "the case is closed"

2013 earthquake
On January 5, 2013, at 3:58 am ET Craig was hit by a 7.5-magnitude offshore earthquake 63 miles (102 km) west of the town. Regional tsunami warnings and advisories were issued. Voluntary evacuations of the town occurred. Despite this, no fatalities, serious injuries, or incidents of damage were reported and the tsunami threat never materialized other than minor, localized sea level rises.

Demographics
Craig first appeared on the 1920 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It incorporated in 1922.

Craig's demographic characteristics have varied following trends in the commercial fishing industry, from 1980 through 2000 Craig's population more than doubled.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,397 people, 523 households, and 348 families residing in the city. The population density was 209.1 PD/sqmi. There were 580 housing units at an average density of 86.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 67.07% White, 0.07% Black or African American, 21.69% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 10.02% from two or more races. 2.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 523 households, out of which 41.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 31.9% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 4.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 119.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $45,298, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $41,111 versus $23,558 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,176. About 7.8% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Transportation
Craig, the island's largest population center and administrative hub for many island companies and organizations, actually has limited-direct transportation off Prince of Wales Island.

Seaplane base
Transportation is primarily via floatplane charters at Craig Seaplane Base. Klawock Airport can accommodate wheeled-aircraft and is a short drive away.

Ferry
Inter-Island Ferry Authority provides regularly scheduled year-round ferry service between Ketchikan and Hollis located on the Eastern coast of Prince of Wales island. The Inter-Island Ferry Authority's central offices are located in Klawock. The ferry terminal is located an hour drive outside of Craig and the ferry takes 3 hours to get to Ketchikan, Alaska.

There are a few marine shipping companies providing scheduled cargo barge service to South-Eastern, Alaska. Craig is usually one of their ports-of-call, handling inter-modal shipping containers for deliveries to other communities.

Shuttle
Prince of Wales Transportation based in Craig, provides island-wide shuttle services from the ferry terminals to the other communities and island attractions.

Economy
Commercial fishing and related support business comprises the largest portion of Craig's economy. This is supplemented by timber industry related activities like the sawmill, and many residents use subsistence resources in addition to the formal economy.

In 2000, Craig had 42 vessel owners with operations in federal fisheries, 84 vessel owners with operations in state fisheries, and 149 registered crew members; 199 residents held 437 commercial fishing permits; 3,405 sport fishing licenses were sold, 2,590 licenses to non-residents of Alaska.

Commercial fishing generates much of the income in Craig. There are two harbors in the center of town one which primarily contains smaller charter and recreational boats, and the North Cove Harbor where the trollers, seiners, longliners, shrimp, crab, and dive boats that make up the local fleet are moored. During the peak of the fishing season in summer, the harbor is usually so full that boats must anchor out in the bay.

Tourism provides jobs and income to the community. Many charter fishing lodges cater to guests who visit the island for the salmon fishing as well as black bear and deer hunting.

The other main employer in Craig is the U.S. Forest Service. The rest of the economy is mainly supportive. There is a city-run medical clinic, a few restaurants, a general store, two banks, a grocery store, a coffeeshop/bookstore, clothing store, gift store, nursery and outdoor outfitter.

Schools
Craig has an elementary, middle, high school and an alternative school with 35 teachers and about 300 students.

Utilities
City of Craig provides piped water from the North Fork Lake reservoir, as well as providing a public sewage system.

Alaska Power & Telephone (an employee owned company) provides hydro-electric power, telephone, and internet service to much of southeastern Alaska, including Craig. There are a few cellular carriers providing service on Prince of Wales Island, mostly to the more densely populated communities like Craig.

Notable people

 * Holly Madison (born 1979), model, television personality; one of the stars of the E! channel's The Girls Next Door

title: Craig, Alaska