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Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yakutat City and Borough (pronounced /ˈjækətɑːt/) is a unified city-borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2000 census, the population was 808. The name is Tlingit, Yaakwdáat, meaning "the place where canoes rest", but it may originally derive from an Eyak name which has been lost. Besides the original city of Yakutat, described below, the only other significant population center in the borough is the community of Icy Bay, the site of the Icy Bay Airport, in the west-central part of the borough.
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Yakutat is located at GR1.
Yakutat is in an isolated location in lowlands along the Gulf of Alaska. It is 340 km (212 mi) northwest of Juneau. It is at the mouth of Yakutat Bay.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 103.1 square miles (267.1 km²). 99.4 square miles (257.5 km²) of it is land and 3.7 square miles (9.5 km²) of it (3.56%) is water. After the consolidation its land area is 7,650.5 sq. miles and its water area 1,808.8 sq. miles. [1]
- Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska - northwest
- Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - southeast
Also shares eastern border with British Columbia (Stikine Region) and the Yukon Territory.
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 680 people, 261 households, and 157 families residing in the town. The population density was 6.8 people per square mile (2.6/km²). There were 385 housing units at an average density of 3.9/sq mi (1.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 41.47% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 47.06% Native American, 1.47% Asian, 0.88% Pacific Islander, and 8.97% from two or more races. 0.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 5.78% reported speaking Tlingit at home [1].
There were 261 households out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.7% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the town the population was spread out with 31.0% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 117.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 123.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $47,054, and the median income for a family was $51,875. Males had a median income of $42,404 versus $26,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,330. About 11.8% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.
The original settlers in the Yakutat area are believed to have been Eyak-speaking people from the Copper River area. Tlingits migrated into the area and assimilated the Eyaks before the arrival of Europeans in Alaska. Yakutat was only one of a number of Tlingit and mixed Tlingit-Eyak settlements in the region, although all the others have been depopulated or abandoned.
In the 1700s and 1800s, English, French, Spanish and Russian explorers came to the region. The Russian-American Company built a fort in Yakutat in 1805 to facilitate trade in sea otter pelts. When the Russians cut off access to the fisheries nearby, a Tlingit war party attacked and destroyed the fort.
By 1886, after the Alaska Purchase by the United States, the black sand beaches in the area were being mined for gold. In 1889 the Swedish Free Mission Church opened a school and sawmill in the area. A cannery, another sawmill, a store and a railroad were constructed beginning in 1903 by the Stimson Lumber Company. Many people moved to the current site of Yakutat to be closer to the Stimpson cannery, which operated through 1970. During World War II, the USAAF stationed a large aviation garrison near Yakutat and built a paved runway. The troops were withdrawn after the war but the runway is still in use.
Fishing is currently the largest economic activity in Yakutat.
Yakutat Tlingit Tribe received a Language Preservation Grant from the Administration for Native Americans in 2004. With this, they have reinvigorated their efforts to teach the Tlingit language to middled-aged and young people. YTT received another ANA grant in 2007 and is expanding its role in the schools. All the YTT Tlingit language revitalization work focuses on using Communicative Approaches to second language teaching, such as TPR and ASLA.
Yakutat has recently risen up as the surfing capital of Alaska. Warm Pacific currents keep water temperatures in the area mild, although wetsuits are still a must for most of the year. Several surfers reside in the town year-round, while others are beginning to creep in from surrounding areas and the Lower 48.
- City and Borough of Yakutat Official website
- Summary of the 2006 Yakutat area commercial salmon fisheries / by Gordon F. Woods. Hosted by the Alaska State Publications Program.
