Welcome to the MedLibrary.org Wikipedia Supplement on Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska -- Please Click to Return to Front Page

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.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Adjacent census areas, region, territory 1.2 National protected areas 2 Demographics 3 History 4 Attractions 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Geography

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.

The city and borough has a total area of 9,459 mi² (24,499 km²). 7,650 mi² (19,815 km²) of it is land and 1,809 mi² (4,685 km²) of it (19.12%) is water.

Adjacent census areas, region, territory

• Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska - northwest
• Hoonah-Angoon Census Area, Alaska - southeast

• Stikine Region, British Columbia - northeast, east
• Yukon Territory - north

National protected areas

• Chugach National Forest (part)
• Glacier Bay National Park (part)
• Tongass National Forest (part)
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (part)

Demographics

As of the census¹ of 2000, there were 808 people, 265 households, and 159 families residing in the city and borough. The population density was 0.0 people per square mile (0.0/km²). There were 499 housing units at an average density of 0.0/sq mi (0.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city and borough was 50.37% White, 0.12% Black or African American, 39.60% Native American, 1.24% Asian, 0.74% Pacific Islander, and 7.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population. 5.78% reported speaking Tlingit at home [1].

There were 265 households out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.5% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.30.

In the city and borough the population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 28.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 145.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 161.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city and borough was $46,786, and the median income for a family was $51,875. Males had a median income of $41,635 versus $25,938 for females. The per capita income for the city and borough was $22,579. About 11.8% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.5% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

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 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, 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 from 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 as Yakutat Airport, which offers scheduled airline service.

Fishing is currently the largest economic activity in Yakutat.

Yakutat Tlingit Tribe (YTT) 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 middle-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.^vague

While working at a local cannery from 1912 to 1941, Seiki Kayamori extensively photographed Yakutat and its area. A large set of prints of his work is held by Yakutat City Hall.²

Attractions

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.

See also

References

1. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
2. ^ Samples are available online, for example at a site hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

External links

• 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.
• Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e   State of Alaska Juneau (capital) Topics Geography | Climate | Wildlife | History | People | Demographics | Transportation | Government | Music | Economy | Culture | Visitor Attractions Regions Aleutian Islands | Arctic Alaska | Bush Alaska | Interior | Kenai Peninsula | Mat‑Su Valley | North Slope | Southeast | Seward Peninsula | Southcentral | Southwest | Tanana Valley | Yukon‑Kuskokwim Delta Largest cities Anchorage | Barrow | Bethel | Dillingham | Fairbanks | Homer | Juneau | Kenai | Ketchikan | Kodiak | Kotzebue | Nome | Palmer | Petersburg | Seward | Sitka | Unalaska | Valdez | Wasilla Boroughs Aleutians East | Anchorage | Bristol Bay | Denali | Fairbanks North Star | Haines | Juneau | Kenai Peninsula | Ketchikan Gateway | Kodiak Island | Lake and Peninsula | Matanuska‑Susitna | North Slope | Northwest Arctic | Sitka | Skagway | Yakutat | Unorganized Census Areas Aleutians West | Bethel | Dillingham | Hoonah‑Angoon | Nome | Prince of Wales‑Outer Ketchikan | Southeast Fairbanks | Valdez‑Cordova | Wade Hampton | Wrangell‑Petersburg | Yukon‑Koyukuk

Coordinates: 59°34′N 139°41′W / 59.567, -139.683

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 16 November 2008, at 03:58.

Wikipedia Authorship and Review

Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.

Wikipedia Usage Guidelines

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Yakutat City and Borough, Alaska".

The URL for this specific entry is:

• http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Yakutat_City_and_Borough,_Alaska

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.