Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska
City in the United States in North Slope Borough
About Anaktuvuk Pass
Anaktuvuk Pass (Inupiaq: Anaqtuuvak, IPA: [ɐnɑqtuːvɐk], Anaqtuġvik or Naqsraq, IPA: [naχʂɑq]) is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. It is located in the middle of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The population was 425 at the 2020 census, up from 324 as of the 2010 census.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How Anaktuvuk Pass is governed
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Residents of Anaktuvuk Pass
Registered voters elect the officials below.
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Mayor
Executive
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The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.
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City Manager / Administrator
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The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).
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Police Chief
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Leads the police department.
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Fire Chief
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Leads the fire and emergency services department.
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Public Works Director
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Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.
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Finance Director
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The budget, taxes, and city accounts.
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Planning & Zoning Director
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Land use, zoning, building permits.
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Parks & Recreation Director
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Parks, programs, and public facilities.
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City Council
Legislative
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The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.
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City Clerk
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Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.
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City Attorney
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The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.
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Boards & Commissions
Legislative
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Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.
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Municipal Court
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Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.
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Municipal Judge
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Presides over the municipal court.
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Population over time
From 324 in 2010 to 425 in 2020 (+31.2%).
Show the numbers
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 425 |
| 2010 | 324 |
History
Anaktuvuk Pass was named after the Anaktuvuk River, and lies at the crossing of two mountain valleys. Anaktuvuk is the English way of spelling "anaqtuġvik", place of caribou droppings in Inupiaq, the language of the Inupiat.
Archaeological evidence from the Tuktu-Naiyuk site, located just north of the settlement, indicates human activity dating from 8,000 to 3,000 years before present. Artifacts such as microblades and other Arctic Small Tools from the Paleo-Eskimo Northern Archaic period suggest that the site was used for processing animals.
A nomadic group of Inupiat called Nunamiut, meaning 'people of the land', lived inland in northern Alaska, hunting caribou instead of the marine mammals and fish hunted by the rest of the Inupiat, who live on the coast. The Nunamiut traded with the coastal people for other items they needed. A decline in caribou populations around 1900 and in the 1920s caused many Nunamiut to move to the coast. In 1938, several Nunamiut families moved back to the Brooks Range, around Tulugak and the Killik River.
The Long Walk
Following a deadly influenza outbreak, in the summer of 1949 a group of families in the Killik River area moved 100 miles to Tulugak Lake, 15 miles north of where the village lies today. Departing from Sulupaat, near the mouth of April Creek on the Killik River, the group included the families of Maptigaq Morry, Inualuuraq (Chris) Hugo, and Homer Mekiana. They traveled on foot with dogs fitted with pack saddles made of caribou, using salvaged military rations when available. This became known by local oral historians as the "Long Walk". After spending the summer around Tulugak Lake, many of the families moved to the present site at the headwaters of the John River, where the village of Anaktuvuk Pass took shape. This journey marks the merging of independent, nomadic Inupiaq groups into one sedentary lifestyle settlement. Their settlement tracked broader changes among the Nunamiut in the 1940s, including increased trade for firearms and provisions. The last nomadic family joined them in 1960, and Anaktuvuk Pass remains the only place of communal settlement within the Brooks Range.
The city was incorporated in 1959. A Presbyterian church was constructed in 1966, using wood collected from nearby. Anaktuvuk Pass remains the only Nunamiut settlement. In 1973 the village established the Nunamiut Corporation as a result of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Gates of the Arctic National Park
In 1967, Governor Walter Hickel ordered the construction of an ice road to connect the recently discovered oil fields of the North Slope to southern Alaska. Construction of the Hickel highway began the next winter and was completed a few months later, passing near Anaktuvuk Pass. The Highway quickly flooded from the thawing permafrost as a result of the clearcut vegetation, and the road was abandoned a month later.
The construction of the Hickel Highway prompted the Nunamiut Corporation to campaign for land surrounding Anaktuvuk Pass to be included as part of a proposed national park to protect the area from outside development. In 1980 Congress established the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. However, the establishment of the National Park prevented some forms of sustenance hunting activities that the Nunamiut had traditionally depended on. In 1996, after years of negotiations, Congress allowed for the use of all-terrain vehicles by Nunamiut Corporation shareholders, which include the vast majority of Anaktuvuk Pass residents.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.