Anchorage Daily News

CHIGNIK LAGOON

POPULATION: 70 (2006)

LOCATION: On the south shore of the Alaska Peninsula, 8.5 miles west of Chignik and 450 miles southwest of Anchorage.

DESCRIPTION: An Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) village that sees an influx of fishermen during the summer fishing season when the population swells by about 200. Fishing is the mainstay of the economy, and the area serves as a regional fishing center, dependent on the success of the salmon fleet. Two on-shore processors operate out of nearby Chignik. Subsistence activities significantly contribute to food sources. Primary year-round employers are the village council, electric plant and school, which is attended by about 20 students.

HISTORY: Chignik Lagoon took its name from its location and proximity to Chignik, the Aleut word for wind. The Chignik area was originally populated by Kaniagmuit Eskimos. After the Russian occupation, the intermarriage of the Kaniags and Unangan of the Aleutians produced the Koniags. The people of this era were sea-dependent, living on otter, sea lion, porpoise and whale. During the Russian fur boom of 1767-83, the sea otter population was decimated. This, in addition to disease and warfare, reduced the Native population to less than half its former size. Current residents are of mixed European/Native ancestry.

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