Anchorage Daily News

KIANA

POPULATION: 391 (2007 estimate)

LOCATION: On the north bank of the Kobuk River, 57 air miles east of Kotzebue.

DESCRIPTION: A traditional Inupiat Eskimo village that practices a subsistence lifestyle and where almost 93 percent of the population is wholly or partly Alaska Native. Subsistence activities are being increasingly augmented by a cash economy. The school (attended by about 120 students), city and Maniilaq Association provide the majority of year-round jobs. The Red Dog Mine also offers area employment. Seasonal employment includes work on river barges, BLM firefighting and jade and copper-ore mining. There is local interest in constructing a whitefish and turbot value-added processing plant and in developing eco-tourism. Kiana is one of the more modern villages in the Northwest Arctic Borough and has three general stores. During the 2000 federal census, 99 residents were employed, the median household income was $39,688, per capita income was $11,534 and 11 percent of residents were living below the official U.S. poverty level.

HISTORY: Kiana, which means "a place where three rivers meet," was established long ago as the central village of the Kobuk River Kowagmiut Inupiat Eskimos. In 1909, it became a supply center for the Squirrel River placer mines. A post office was established in 1915. The city government was incorporated in 1964. Prior to the formation of the Northwest Arctic Borough in 1976, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs high school here taught students from Noatak, Shungnak and Ambler, who boarded with local residents.

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