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Emmonak
 Emmonak
is located at the mouth of the Yukon River, 10 miles from the Bering
Sea, on the north bank of Kwiguk Pass. It lies 120 air miles northwest
of Bethel and 490 air miles from Anchorage, in the Yukon Delta National
Wildlife Refuge. It lies at approximately 62° 47' N Latitude, 164° 32' W
Longitude (Sec. 17, T031N, R081W, Seward Meridian). The community is
located in the Bethel Recording District. The area encompasses 6 sq.
miles of land and 1 sq. miles of water.
The village was originally called "Kwiguk,"
a Yup'ik word meaning "big stream." Villagers call themselves "Kuigpagmuit,"
or "people from the Yukon River." The original settlement was 1.4 miles
south of its present location, and was first reported by the U.S. Coast
and Geodetic Survey in 1899. A post office was established there in
1920. Later, commercial fishing became a major industry in the village
and the northern Commercial Company built a cannery. In 1964, the
cannery was washed away by floods. Due to increasing flooding and
erosion, the village was relocated 1.4 miles north of Kwiguk in 1964-65.
The new location was renamed Emmonak, which means "black fish.".
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