Emmonak is a Yup’ik community located in the Yukon River Delta, approximately 14 miles (23 km) upstream from the Bering Sea, about 92 miles (148 km) west-southwest of Saint Michael and 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Nunam Iqua, Alaska. The village is situated on the right bank of Kwiguk Pass, a tidal distributary of the Yukon River. Historically, the village was called Kwiguk, a common Yup’ik word meaning “big stream.” It was originally situated 1.4 miles (2.2 km) southeast on the left bank of Kwiguk Pass. The village was first reported by George R. Putnam of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1899. The residents, known as Kuigpagmuit, meaning “people from the Yukon River,” moved the village in 1964 due to riverbank erosion. It was renamed Emmonak after the local blackfish. The Yukon River, Alaska’s largest, originates in British Columbia and flows 2,300 miles (3,701 km) to the Bering Sea. Its watershed covers about 211 million acres (85 million ha), or roughly one-third of Alaska’s landmass. The Yukon River’s suspended sediment load ranks as the world’s 18th largest, contributing over 90% of the sediment that enters the northern Bering Sea. Together with the Kuskokwim River, it forms the world’s seventh-largest delta plain, covering approximately 13 million acres (5.4 million ha). This delta region is a largely flat, featureless plain of wet and dry tundra, interspersed with numerous lakes. Many lakes have merged to create large bodies of water connected to the sea through ancient river channels. The varied coastline results from numerous distributary channels influenced by a tidal range of about 3 feet (0.9 m) and varying sediment sources. The village is surrounded by sloughs, channels, and low-lying tundra, with an elevation of about 15 feet (4.6 m) above sea level. The area is underlain by poorly consolidated Pleistocene deposits of fine sand and silty clay, extending to depths of around 200 feet (60 m), making it highly susceptible to erosion.

The Yukon Delta has been a significant area of prehistoric and historic use by Alaska Natives. Evidence of occupation in the lower Yukon Delta and coastal regions dates back approximately 3,000 years to the Norton Tradition of the Yup’ik people. This archaeological culture developed along the Alaskan shore of the Bering Strait around 1000 BC and lasted until about 800 AD. The Norton people, who succeeded the Arctic small tool tradition, used flake-stone tools but were more marine-oriented. They developed new technologies such as oil-burning lamps, clay vessels, and fishing nets. Their subsistence strategy involved hunting caribou, smaller mammals, salmon, and larger sea mammals. Trade routes with the Chukchi people of Siberia at the Kolyma River predated European contact. When Russian fur traders established artels in the area, a well-established trade network existed throughout Norton Sound. The Yup’ik people already possessed metal pots, knives, lances, iron, and chewing tobacco. In 1833, a Russian trading post at Saint Michael was built to intercept this trade. By the late 19th century, these routes were dismantled due to smallpox and influenza epidemics and the rise of Saint Michael as an economic center. Direct trade with Siberia was largely disrupted during the late 1800s, as most necessities were acquired from agents of the Alaska Commercial Company, whalers, or independent traders. By the early 20th century, a Northern Commercial Company trading post at Kwiguk supplied the Yup’ik people with metal pots, knives, calico, tobacco, and matches. The first commercial salmon fishery in the lower Yukon River began in 1918. The Carlisle Packing Company started a floating cannery on the Yukon River at Andreafsky, moving it to Kwiguk Pass in 1919, but it only operated for two seasons. Significant harvests of Chinook, chum, and coho salmon occurred from 1919 to 1921, mostly outside the river mouth due to in-river restrictions. The commercial fishery closed from 1925 to 1931 to protect the subsistence fishery. Chinook fishing resumed at reduced levels in 1932. Chum and coho fishing resumed in 1952, and continued sporadically until 1961, after which it became regular. The Yup’ik of Immanaq and the lower Yukon Delta continue to rely on wild animals and plants, with subsistence central to their culture and identity, however, declines in salmon populations has resulted in social and economic hardship.

The entrance to Kwiguk Pass is located at a major bend in the Yukon River, where changes in river morphology control flow volumes through the pass, particularly during floods. River channel migration is a natural process involving the lateral movement of a river across its floodplain, creating meanders and eventually oxbow lakes. This process is primarily driven by bank erosion and point bar deposition over time. Riverbank avulsion, the rapid removal of material, often results in the formation of a new channel and is common in dispersive systems like deltas and alluvial fans, where flow channels shift and distribute sediment, building the delta. Consequently, the lower Yukon River continually experiences shoreline erosion and aggradation due to channel migration. Since 1972, the Yukon mainstem has migrated north, forming a densely vegetated point bar and a prominent cutbank at the mouth of Kwiguk Pass. Cutbanks that sharply change direction are prime locations for ice-jam flooding during spring breakup, which can lead to riverbank erosion or the formation of new channels. The primary concern is that Kwiguk Pass could become the main channel as the Yukon River shifts course to a northern route. Erosion at the entrance to Kwiguk Pass and along the riverbanks at the community is caused by wave action, currents (including those from boat wakes), annual freeze-thaw cycles that reduce soil cohesion, and foot traffic that destroys vegetation and hinders new growth. Emmonak is located in a region of isolated permafrost, with up to 10% of the area underlain by perennially frozen ground. When thawed, fine-grained riverbank sediments are more prone to collapse than other sediment types. In some villages like Emmonak, land collapse is caused by the combined effects of permafrost thaw, flooding, and storm surges, which are so severe they are referred to by the Yup’ik word “usteq.” The Yukon River Delta, like the Arctic region in general, is warming at an accelerated and unprecedented rate, affecting oceans, glaciers, sea ice, and permafrost. The risks and severity of climate impacts are particularly high for coastal communities where permafrost thaw exacerbates coastal erosion. Read more here and here. Explore more of Emmonak and the Yukon River Delta here: