Anchorage Daily News

POPULATION: 353 (2007)

LOCATION: On the Ninglick River north of Nelson Island in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, 94 miles northwest of Bethel.

DESCRIPTION: A traditional Yup'ik Eskimo village with an active subsistence lifestyle. Almost 97 percent of residents are wholly or partly Alaska Native. Relative isolation from outside influences has enabled this area, more than other parts of Alaska, to retain its traditions and customs. The school (about 100 students), clinic, village organizations and commercial fishing (about 25 residents have permits) provide jobs.

HISTORY: The people of Newtok share a heritage with Nelson Island communities. Their ancestors have lived on the Bering Sea coast for at least 2,000 years. The people from the five villages are known as Qaluyaarmiut: dipnet people. Only intermittent outside contact occurred until the 1920s. In the 1950s the Territorial Guard found volunteers from Newtok while the people were traveling to Bethel. Tuberculosis was a major health problem during this period. In the late 1950s, the village was relocated from Old Kealavik, 10 miles away, to its present location to escape flooding. A school was built in 1958, although high school students were required to travel to Bethel, St. Marys, Sitka or Anchorage for their education. This was often their first exposure to the outside, and students returned with a good knowledge of the English language and culture. A high school was constructed in Newtok in the 1980s.

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