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Anaktuvuk Pass
 Anaktuvuk
Pass, at 2,200 feet elevation on the divide between the Anaktuvuk and
John Rivers in the central Brooks Range, is the last remaining
settlement of the Nunamiut (inland northern Inupiat Eskimo). It lies at
approximately 68° 08' N Latitude, 151° 45' W Longitude (Sec. 18, T015S,
R002E, Umiat Meridian). The community is located in the Barrow Recording
District. The area encompasses 14 sq. miles of land and 0 sq. miles of
water.
Nunamiut bands left the Brooks Range
and scattered due to the collapse of caribou in 1926-27, and also
because of cultural changes brought by the influx of western
civilization. In 1938, however, several Nunamiut families left the coast
and returned to the mountains at Killik River and Chandler Lake. In
1949, the Chandler Lake group moved to Anaktuvuk Pass ("the place of
caribou droppings"), where they were later joined by the Killik River
group. This settlement attracted Nunamiut from many other locations, and
villagers today lead a somewhat more sedentary lifestyle than in earlier
nomadic times. A Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1966.
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