View source for Nanwalek, Alaska

[[File:N91025g.jpg|right|333px]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Nanwalek, Alaska
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = 
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = 
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
| image_map             = Nanwalek_Municipal_Map.png
| map_caption           = Location in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Alaska]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|Borough]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska|Kenai Peninsula]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = Borough [[mayor]]
|leader_name              = [[Peter Micciche]]
|leader_title1            = [[Alaska Senate|State senator]]
|leader_name1             = [[Lyman Hoffman]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
|leader_title2            = [[Alaska House of Representatives|State rep.]]
|leader_name2             = [[Bryce Edgmon]] ([[Independent politician|I]])
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =

<!-- Area -->
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_02.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 21.75
|area_land_km2            = 21.72
|area_water_km2           = 0.04
|area_total_sq_mi         = 8.40
|area_land_sq_mi          = 8.38
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.01

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 247
|population_density_km2   = 11.37
|population_density_sq_mi = 29.46

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[Alaska Time Zone|Alaska (AKST)]]
|utc_offset               = -9
|timezone_DST             = AKDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -8
|elevation_footnotes      = 
|elevation_m              = 
|elevation_ft             = 50
|coordinates              = {{coord|59|21|13|N|151|54|45|W|region:US-AK|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 99603
|area_code                = [[Area code 907|907]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 02-52210
|blank1_name              = 
|blank1_info              = 
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est = 
|unit_pref = Imperial
}}
'''Nanwalek''' (‘place by lagoon’; {{langx|ru|Нануалек}}), formerly '''Alexandrovsk''' ({{langx|ru|Александровск}}) and later '''English Bay''', is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) in the [[Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska|Kenai Peninsula Borough]], [[Alaska]], United States, that contains a traditional [[Alutiiq]] village. The population was 247 at the [[2020 United States census]],<ref name="Census 2010">https://data.census.gov/profile/Nanwalek_CDP,_Alaska?g=160XX00US0252210</ref> down from 254 in 2010. There is one school located in the community, attended by 81 students.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alaska Department of education & Early Development |url=https://education.alaska.gov/compass/ParentPortal/SchoolProfile?SchoolID=240060 }}</ref>

[[Subsistence]] activities are a large part of the culture for [[Alaska Natives|indigenous people]], and Nanwalek is no exception, especially when it comes to [[salmon]] and [[pinniped|seal]] harvesting. The sale of alcohol is banned in the village, although importing and possession are allowed.

==Geography==
Nanwalek and [[Port Graham, Alaska|Port Graham]] are located near the southern tip of the [[Kenai Peninsula]] and are separated by less than {{convert|5|mi|0}}. Both villages are accessible only by air or water (they lie {{convert|23|mi}} southwest of [[Homer, Alaska|Homer]]). The [[Alaska Marine Highway System]] provides service to nearby [[Seldovia, Alaska|Seldovia]] (located only {{convert|10|mi|km}} up the coast line). A state-owned {{convert|1850|by|50|ft|m|adj=on}} gravel airstrip sits atop a natural spit which divides the small lagoon from the southern mouth of [[Cook Inlet]]. Looking northwest across Cook Inlet, one can see [[Mount Iliamna]] {{convert|60|mi}} away and further to the north [[Mount Redoubt]], {{convert|80|mi}} away. Although they are in the vicinity of the village, they do not cause trouble to the villagers, since Iliamna is erupting continuously, emitting only smoke, and Redoubt is so far in the north that the ashes from its eruptions bother mostly Kenai and [[Anchorage]]. It is [[Augustine Volcano|Augustine]] (the most active volcano of the eastern Aleutian arc), {{convert|50|mi}} due west across Cook Inlet, which makes life nasty in Nanwalek, Port Graham, Seldovia and Homer when it erupts, as it most recently has done in 1986 and 2006.<ref>''Alaska's Volcanoes'', '''Alaska Geographic''', Vol. 18 (1991), no. 2, p. 73.</ref><ref name="SI">{{cite gvp
  | vn = 313010
  | name = Augustine
  | accessdate = January 19, 2009}}</ref>

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of {{convert|21.8|km2|order=flip}}, of which {{convert|0.04|sqkm|order=flip|2}}, or 0.16%, are water.<ref name="Census 2010" />

==Early history==
A [[Russia]]n [[fortress]] called Aleksandrovsk, the first Russian post on mainland Alaska, was established at the present site of Nanwalek by men of [[Grigorii Shelikhov]]’s company in 1786, while Shelikhov himself was still on [[Kodiak Island]].<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 155.</ref>

In 1793, men from the company of the rivalling [[Pavel Lebedev-Lastochkin]], who had in the meantime established themselves around the modern city of [[Kenai]], attacked with 60 men the Aleksandrovsk fortress, accompanied by [[Dena'ina]] warriors. Lebedev-Lastochkin’s men organized various provocations and beat the local Natives, took from them furs that would have been sent to Shelikhov’s men in Kodiak, but ultimately they could not capture the fort.<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 186–87.</ref>

In the summer of 1794, the fortress was moved to a new, higher place, since the old structures had rotted and had begun to collapse as a result of high tides. At this time, the head of the fortress was V. I. Malakhov.<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 190, 193.</ref> This seems to indicate that the first fortress had been located on the Nanwalek spit.

In 1798, when the Dena'ina Indians rose against the men of Lebedev-Lastochkin’s company in [[Kenai]], [[Tyonek]] and [[Old Iliamna]], the timely arrival of a detachment from Aleksandrovsk, led by V. I. Malakhov, saved the Kenai colony from total destruction. The Tyonek and Iliamna colonies, however, were destroyed.<ref>Grinëv 2018, p. 215.</ref>

By 1818, the fortress in Nanwalek was closed down, and possibly the colony since then existed as an odinochka, or ‘one man post’, although this is not certain. The fortress was transferred at this time to [[Nushagak, Alaska|Nushagak]], where it was known as the Novo-Aleksandrovskii fortress (‘New Aleksandrovskii fortress’).<ref>Tikhmenev, Piotr Aleksandrovich: ''A History of the Russian American Company'', p. 180. Transl. Richard A. Pierce & Alton S. Donnelly. University of Washington Press, Seattle.</ref>

==Demographics==
Many of the current residents are of mixed Russian and [[Sugpiaq]] ([[Alutiiq]]) heritage. Villagers speak [[Alutiiq language|Sugt'stun]], an [[Eskimo language]] closely related to [[Yupik language|Yup'ik]].

{{US Census population
|1880= 88
|1890= 107
|1930= 107
|1940= 48
|1950= 75
|1960= 78
|1970= 58
|1980= 124
|1990= 158
|2000= 177
|2010= 254
|2020= 247
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 6, 2013}}</ref>
}}
Nanwalek first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated village of Alexandrovsk.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rr9RAQAAMAAJ&q=english+bay&pg=PA49 |title = Geological Survey Professional Paper|year = 1949}}</ref> It had 75 Sugpiaq residents, 12 Creole (Mixed Russian & Sugpiaq) and 1 White.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics of the Population of Alaska |url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-17.pdf |website=United States Census Bureau |date=1880}}</ref> It reported as English Bay in 1890, with 107 residents (100 Sugpiaq, 6 Creole, 1 White).<ref>{{cite web |title=Report on Population and Resources of Alaska at the Eleventh Census: 1890 |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1890a_v8-01.pdf |website=United States Census Bureau |publisher=Government Printing Office}}</ref> It did not report again until 1930, when it returned 107 residents, the same as 40 years earlier. It continued to report in every successive census. In 1980, English Bay was made a census-designated place (CDP). In 1991, the name was officially changed to the present Nanwalek.

As of the census<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|accessdate=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 177 people, 45 households, and 32 families residing in the CDP.  The population density was {{convert|20.8|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 54 housing units at an average density of {{convert|6.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the CDP was 6.78% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 89.27% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], and 3.95% from two or more races.  1.13% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

There were 45 households, out of which 55.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 15.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 3.93 and the average family size was 4.79.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 42.9% under the age of 18, 14.1% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 10.7% from 45 to 64, and 0.6% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.3 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $42,500, and the median income for a family was $45,750. Males had a median income of $33,750 versus $32,813 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $10,577.  About 14.7% of families and 17.5% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 12.6% of those under the age of 18 and none of those 65 or over.

== Religion ==
A [[Russian Orthodox church]] consecrated to Saints [[Sergius of Valaam|Sergius]] and [[Herman of Valaam]] was built in the community in 1870 (only three years after the [[Alaska Purchase|sale of Alaska]] by Russia to the United States). [[Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valaam Church|A replacement church building]] was constructed in 1930 and is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

The [[Orthodox Church in America|Orthodox Church in Alaska]] can trace its activities back to early Russian missionaries. The witness of [[Herman of Alaska]], [[Saint Innocent of Alaska]], and [[Peter the Aleut]] has contributed to the continuing strong Orthodox community in villages like Nanwalek.

== Transportation ==

Nanwalek has a public-use airport, the [[Nanwalek Airport]].

==References==
<references />

==Sources==
*Grinëv, Andrei Val’terovich: ''Russian Colonization of Alaska: Preconditions, Discovery, and Initial Development.'' University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln & London.

==External links==
{{Portal|Alaska}}
* [http://www.homernews.com/stories/030106/news_030206new014.shtml Local News] airport sites under consideration for villages
* [http://www.seldovia.net/Nanwalek.htm General Info] list of contact phone numbers, etc.
* [http://www.edline.net/pages/Nanwalek_School Nanwalek Public School]- attended by 76 students
* [http://www.oca.org/DIRlisting.asp?SID=9&KEY=OCA-AK-EGCSSH SS. Sergius/Herman of Valaam Church]
* [http://www.asna.ca/alaska Alaskan Orthodox Christian texts (Aleut, Tlingit)] by St. Innocent (Veniaminov)
* [http://uaf-db.uaf.edu/jukebox/NanPG/nanwalek/html/people.html Nanwalek Jukebox (audio files)]

{{Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Alaska]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Road-inaccessible communities of Alaska]]