Napakiak is a village located on an island situated between the Kuskokwim River to the south and Johnson Slough to the north, about 167 miles (269 km) southeast of Emmonak and 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Bethel, Alaska. Johnson Slough diverts part of the Kuskokwim River into the Johnson River, which originates in the Portage Lakes on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Portage between Russian Mission on the Yukon River and Kalskag on the Kuskokwim. It flows generally southwest for about 215 miles (346 km) until it meets the Kuskokwim roughly 5 miles (8 km) downstream and southwest of Napakiak. In 1949 the US Coast and Geodetic Survey named both Johnson River and Johnson Slough after prospector Eric Johnson. Edward W. Nelson of the US Army Signal Corps first reported the village as ‘Napahaiagamute’ during his dogsled exploration of much of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in 1878-1879. The Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta—the largest riverine delta in western North America—comprises unconsolidated sediments ranging from silt to coarse gravel, mostly deposited during the last 2.5 million years of the Quaternary period. It is the largest sediment source around the Bering Sea; much of its load is transported northward to the Arctic Ocean by surface currents in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. The delta’s geomorphology features a water-dominated plain of lakes, marshes and interlaced streams. Shallow soils overlay permafrost, remaining wet in summer and frozen for nine months of winter. Tundra plant communities consist mainly of sedge mats, moss and low-growing shrubs, with alder, willows and scattered, stunted spruce and birch along major streams.

Archaeological excavations at Cape Denbigh on Norton Sound indicate that the area was inhabited more than 4,000 years ago. Early inhabitants were nomadic, living in temporary camps and hunting seals and small tundra mammals. It took roughly 2,500 years before fishing was incorporated into their subsistence economy. Extreme navigational hazards in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and along the coast likely kept the region largely unexplored and sparsely populated through much of the nineteenth century. The advent of fishing ended the nomadic lifestyle and gave rise to modern Yup’ik culture, characterized by seasonal movements between semi‐permanent hunting and fishing camps. Winter villages were situated centrally among food‐gathering camps. Today, these villages have become permanent communities along the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers, with complex kinship and social relationships at the heart of traditional Yup’ik life. Most present-day inhabitants, primarily of Yup’ik descent, live in isolated villages of 100 to 500 people, mainly along the lower 39 miles (62 km) of the delta. The enduring Yup’ik partnership between land and man is evident in the community’s geographic and economic orientation toward the river and its salmon. In most families, annual cash incomes are earned through commercial salmon fishing, supplemented by subsistence activities that include harvesting driftwood, catching fish, and hunting mammals and waterfowl. It is fitting that the Yup’ik refer to themselves as the Kwikpagmiut, meaning ‘people of the big river.’ The name reflects their acknowledgment of the societal link between the people, the rivers, and the living resources of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

The Yup’ik have inhabited the Napakiak area for at least 1,000 years—perhaps much longer. Historically, different names designated villages that relocated over time, though they were likely occupied by the same people or their descendants. In 1878, Edward Nelson reported the village as Napahaiagamute, then located further downriver at the mouth of the Johnson River. The village relocated between 1878 and 1884, when Moravian missionaries described Napakiak as near Napaskiak, about 7 miles (11 km) east of today’s Napakiak. These shifting designations reflect the mobility of Yup’ik communities as they adapted to changing environments. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is a dynamic landscape shaped by tidal fluctuations, storm surges, erosion and deposition along channels and shorelines, shifting topography, sedimentation, variable salinity from riverine and marine flooding, and vegetation succession. Unlike most deltas, it contains permafrost. Dominant processes include permafrost degradation, increased channel erosion, vegetation colonization of mudflats, and lake drainage. Over the last six decades, permafrost degradation has accelerated, coinciding with more frequent storms and rising air temperatures. With very low ground elevations, projected sea-level rise, reduced sea ice, and accelerated permafrost loss, the delta is among the Arctic’s most vulnerable regions to climate warming. Napakiak now faces severe erosion along the Kuskokwim River, prompting the village to develop a retreat plan. The riverbank has eroded more than 800 feet (244 m) in the past 22 years—about 36 feet (11 m) per year. This extreme erosion stems from the village’s location and unstable, easily erodible soils, compounded by permafrost degradation. In 2013, residents raised concerns about the school’s safety, then only 400 feet (122 m) from the river. Fuel storage tanks, at 350 feet (107 m), are even closer, and at current erosion rates the site is expected to vanish by 2026. Read more here and here. Explore more of Napakiak and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta here: