VENETIE
POPULATION: 181 (2007)
LOCATION: On the north side of the Chandalar River, 45 miles northwest of Fort Yukon.
DESCRIPTION: A village composed largely of descendants of the Neets'ai Gwich'in, and to a lesser extent of the Gwichyaa and Dihaii Gwich'in. The village council is combined with Arctic Village. Subsistence fishing and hunting are mainstays of the local culture. Most jobs are tied to the school (attended by about 40 students), clinic, post office, store and village council. Residents haul water and honeybuckets. BLM seasonally employs residents as firefighters. The National Guard has used Venetie to teach cold-weather survival. During the 2000 U.S. Census, 44 residents were employed, median household income was $21,000, per capita income was $7,314, and 42 percent of residents were living below the official U.S. poverty level.
HISTORY: Founded in 1895 by a man named Old Robert who chose Venetie for its plentiful fish and game. About 50 Natives were living on the Chandalar in 1899. The 1906-'07 gold rush brought many miners, but by 1910, the Chandalar was largely played out. The Venetie Indian Reservation was established in 1943. Under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Venetie and Arctic Village chose title to 1.8 million acres of land in the former reservation.
