Ekwok, Alaska

Unorganized Borough

02-21810

Ekwok is a village of the Yupik Inuit in the Dillingham Census Area, Alaska. According to the 2000 census, there lived 130 people.

Geography

Ekwok is located on Nushagak River.

History

Ekwok means " end of the cliff " and is the oldest continuously inhabited village in the Yupik Inuit river. By 1800, the settlement in the spring and summer was used as a base for fishing and in the fall for the berries. 1923 Ekwok was the largest settlement along the river. 1930 a school was built. The mail was delivered until the opening of the post office in 1941 with sled dogs from Dillingham. Many of the original homes in Ekwok were built near the river bank. After a severe flood in the 1960s, the villagers moved to higher ground, to its current location. Ekwok received city rights in 1974.

Traffic

1960 took the Ekwok Airport on its operation. Small boats, ATVs and snowmobiles are the usual local transport.