About Where We Live
Where on earth is Kasigluk, Alaska anyway? Maybe these will help you:
Kasigluk is about 22 miles west of Bethel, in Western Alaska. It is situated along a small, sluggish river some call the Clam, and others call the Kasigluk. Just south of town, this little river flows into the Johnson, which runs about 20-30 miles to the Kuskokwim, which empties into the Bering Sea. The village of Kasigluk is actually split between Akiuk (old Kasigluk) and Akula (new Kasigluk), which are about a mile apart, and on separate sides of the river. Click here to find out why? Today, the post office, hardware store, and larger grocery store are all in Akula. So traveling down the river and back is a frequent necessity, one that gets more complex and dangerous around freeze-up and break-up time.
We knew very little about the Delta (Yukon/Kuskokwim river delta area) prior to moving here. We had heard that it was flat, treeless, wet, and windy. Turns out there are occasional bluffs, and some high brush that sort of resembles trees. As for the moisture, what I had heard hadn't done it justice. The weather isn't all that wet, but the ground is. From the air, it is obvious that there is more water than land. It is sort of a mammoth swamp that freezes for seven months out of every year. In the spring and summer, all of that frozen soil begins to melt, resulting in a slow, muddy runoff. This is partly what has led to Bethel's reputation, in some parts of the state, as the armpit of Alaska! But actually, upon arriving, Tammy and I were both pleasantly surprised at the intense beauty of the green, rolling tundra, the glassy lakes and rivers, and the sunsets. Check out our photos if you want proof!
Akiuk is actually a narrow island, with the river to the West and a lake on the East side. Across the river from Akiuk, heading West, is another strip of land, followed by still another lake. The lakes and rivers in the YK Delta tend to be quite shallow, with a very slow current. Travel to Bethel is by motorboat in summer (about 2 hours covering 54 river miles), snow machine in winter (as little as 40 minutes in good conditions), and airplane year-round in the daylight. Bethel is the hub city for 70 some odd Delta villages, and because of this, it seems a lot bigger than most towns its size (6,000 or so). Our college town, Walla Walla, is about 5 times the size of Bethel, but much, much sleepier.
Akiuk is made up of around 200 people, and the 300 in Akula bring the total population of Kasigluk to around 500 people. I'd say that at least 95% of the population is Yupik Eskimo. The first census indicating a village in the area was taken in the 1930s. I am told that the first Yupiks moved here from Nunivak Island. Yupik is still the language of choice here on the street and in business. The first few years of public school are also entirely in Yupik. Also, there are no English-language church services! There is a Russian Orthodox church in Akula, with services in both Yupik and Russian, and a Moravian church in Akiuk, with services in Yupik only. We plan on attending the Moravian church and hope to pick up on Yupik! Most families still rely on subsistence activities for a major portion of their food supply. The only buildings with running water in Akiuk are the school, the teacher housing (4 units), and the Washeteria. The washeteria is a bush laundromat, complete with showers and a sauna. People use either the Washeteria or their own personal "steam" (basically a tiny hut with a wood stove in it -- most people have their own) to get clean. All this to say that Kasigluk is still a traditional village in a lot of ways, and we're really glad to get to be a part of that!
For more info, check out these links I copied from our Alaska Links page:
Climate & Weather Data for Bethel - answers all of those "So how cold is it..." questions.
Alaska Community Database page on Kasigluk. Great overview and a fantastic database for learning about any settlement in Alaska.
