Bethel ( esu, Mamterilleq) is a city in
Bethel Census Area
Bethel Census Area is a census area in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population is 18,666, up from 17,013 in 2010. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest community is the cit ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is the largest community on the
Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River ( Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: Кускоквим (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth l ...
, located approximately upriver from where the river flows into
Kuskokwim Bay
Kuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern Alaska, at about . It is about long, and wide.
The Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River ( Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: ...
. It is also the largest city in western Alaska and in the
Unorganized Borough
The Unorganized Borough is composed of the portions of the U.S. state of Alaska which are not contained in any of its 19 organized boroughs. While referred to as the "Unorganized Borough," it is not a borough itself, as it forgoes that level of ...
, as well as the
eighth-largest in the state. Bethel has a population of 6,325 as of the
2020 census, up from 6,080 in 2010.
Annual events in Bethel include the
Kuskokwim 300
The Kuskokwim 300 is among the more highly regarded mid-distance dogsled races in Alaska, annually attracting some of the top mushers in the sport. The race starts and ends on the Kuskokwim River in Bethel, Alaska, and is run on and adjacent to ...
, a
dogsled
A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the ...
race; Camai, a
Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
dance festival
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
held each spring; and the Bethel Fair held in August.
History
Southwestern Alaska has been the homelands of
Yup'ik peoples
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
and their ancestors for thousands of years. The residents of what became Bethel were called the Mamterillermiut, meaning "Smokehouse People", after their nearby fish
smokehouse
A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke
Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...
.
In the late 19th century, the
Alaska Commercial Company established a trading post in the town, called Mumtrekhlogamute, which had a population of 41 people by the 1880 US Census.
[
In 1885, the ]Moravian Church
The Moravian Church ( cs, Moravská církev), or the Moravian Brethren, formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohem ...
established a mission in the area under the leadership of Rev. William Weinland and Caroline (born Yost) and John Henry Kilbuck, Jr., a Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...
, and his wife Edith, a daughter and granddaughter of Moravian missionaries in Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. They both learned Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
, which aided them in their missionary work. He made Yup'ik the language of the Moravian Church in the community and region, and helped translate the Christian Bible into the language. The missionaries moved Bethel from Mamterillermiut to its present location on the west side of the Kuskokwim River. A United States post office was opened in 1905.
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
in this area have had a long Christian history, in part from Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...
, Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Moravian influence. As in many Indian villages in Alaska, Christian tradition has become interwoven with the people's original culture.
Development came to the area during and after World War II, causing a great social change among the Alaska Indians.
In 1971, Bethel established a community radio station KYUK, which has been a strong influence in the redevelopment and revival of Yup'ik culture and self-definition in the modern world. It was the first Native-owned and operated radio station in the US. Similar stations were soon started in Kotzebue
Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing t ...
, and by 1990, there were 10 stations in communities of fewer than 3,500 people.
On February 19, 1997, a school shooting attracted widespread media attention to Bethel when 16-year-old Evan Ramsey, a student at Bethel Regional High School, shot and killed his principal and one student and wounded two others, for which he later received a 210-year prison sentence.
In 2009, Bethel opted out of status as a " Local Option" community, theoretically opening the door to allowing alcohol sales in the city; residents and city officials maintained that all liquor license
A liquor license (or liquor licence in most forms of Commonwealth English) is a governmentally issued permit to sell, manufacture, store, or otherwise use alcoholic beverages.
Canada
In Canada, liquor licences are issued by the legal authority ...
requests would be actively opposed. In October 2015, though, a vote for allowing alcohol sales in Bethel passed and two liquor licenses were approved for existing stores in the city.
In 2012, Bethel received worldwide coverage after some pranksters distributed flyers falsely announcing the launch of a Taco Bell
Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...
restaurant, prompting Taco Bell to send a helicopter to the remote town, bearing a Taco Bell truck, which was itself bearing ingredients for 10,000 tacos.
On November 3, 2015, the Kilbuck building housing both the Ayaprun Elitnaurviat Yup'ik immersion school and the Kuskokwim Learning Academy caught fire, destroying the immersion school and damaging the boarding school. Fire fighters demolished part of the building in an effort to save a media center containing Yup'ik artifacts and elder interviews.
Geography
Bethel is located at (60.792222, −161.755833). According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 11.34%, is water.
Though the region is flat and generally treeless, Bethel lies inside the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge covering about in southwestern Alaska. It is the second-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, only slightly smaller than the Arctic National Wildlife R ...
, the second largest wildlife refuge
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
in the United States.
Climate
Bethel has a subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: " Dfc"), with long, somewhat snowy, and cold winters, and short, mild summers. Normal monthly mean temperatures range from in January to in July, with an annual mean of . Warm days of above can be expected on 14 days per summer. Precipitation is both most frequent and greatest during the summer months, averaging per year. Snowfall usually falls in light bouts, and is actually greater in November and December (before the sea freezes) than in January and February, averaging a season. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on January 18–19 and 25, 1947 up to on June 17, 1926.
Demographics
The first settlement at the location of Bethel reported on the 1880 U.S. Census as "Mumtrekhlagamute Station." It had 29 Yup'ik. 1/2 mile away was the adjacent Mumtrekhlagamute Village (1880 population: 41 (all Yup'ik); 1890 population (as Mumtrekhlagamiut) was 33 (28 Yup'ik and 5 Whites). Bethel was established at Mumtrekhlagamute Station in 1885 and supplanted it by the 1890 U.S. Census. It reported 20 residents (13 Yup'ik and 7 Whites). Mumtrekhlagamiut would later be absorbed into Bethel. Bethel did not appear on the 1900 Census, but has on every census since 1910. It would formally incorporate as a city in 1957.
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 5,471 people, 1,741 households, and 1,190 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,990 housing units at an average density of 45.5 per square mile (17.6/km). The racial makeup of the city was 26.8% White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.9% Black or African American, 61.8% Native American, 2.9% Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.2% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.5% from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 6.9% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 1.7% of the population.
There were 1,741 households, out of which 44.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.65.
The age distribution was 35.5% under 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 3.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.6 males.
The median income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...
for a household in the city was $57,321, and the median income for a family was $62,431. Males had a median income of $45,321 versus $39,010 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city is $20,267. About 10.6% of the families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 9.7% of those under the age of 18 and 18.3% of those ages 64 and over.
Transportation and economy
The state-owned Bethel Airport
Bethel Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Bethel, a city in the Bethel Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska.
As per Federal Aviation Adm ...
is the regional transportation hub, and is served by three passenger carriers, including Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the numb ...
, Grant Aviation
Grant Aviation is a regional airline that serves the town of Kenai, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Bristol Bay, and the Aleutian Chain in Alaska, United States. The airline was formed in 1971 as Delta Air Services based in Emmonak. The current owner ...
, and Renfro's Alaskan Adventure. It also receives service from three major cargo operators: Everts Air Cargo
Everts Air Cargo is an American Part 121 airline based in Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. It operates D.O.D, scheduled and charter airline cargo within Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the continental United States. Its maintenance base is Fairbanks Interna ...
, Northern Air Cargo
Northern Air Cargo, LLC (NAC) is an American cargo airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. NAC operates a small fleet of Boeing 737-300s and Boeing 737-400 freighter aircraft within the state of Alaska as well as widebody Boeing 767-300 freigh ...
, Lynden Air Cargo
Lynden Air Cargo is an American cargo airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. It operates scheduled services and on demand charter, international and domestic flights, including services for the US military. Its main base is Ted Stevens Anchorag ...
, and numerous small air taxi services. The airport ranks third in the state for total number of flights. It offers a 6,400 foot (1,951-meter) asphalt runway, a 4,000 foot (1,219-meter) asphalt runway, and 1,850 foot (564-meter) gravel crosswind runway, and is currently undergoing a $7 million renovation and expansion. Three float plane bases are nearby: Hangar Lake, H Marker Lake, and the Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River ( Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: Кускоквим (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth l ...
.
The Port of Bethel is the northernmost medium-draft port in the United States. River travel is the primary means of local transportation in the summer. A Bethel-based barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
service provides goods to Kuskokwim
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River (Yup'ik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanek' ''; russian: Кускоквим (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth la ...
villages.
Within Bethel are approximately of roads that are not connected to any contiguous highway system. Winter ice roads lead to several nearby villages, but their condition varies depending on temperature and snowfall. An extensive network of snow machine trails connects Bethel to villages all over the Delta, from the Bering Sea to the Yukon.
The town's single paved road, about 10 miles (16 km), supports a taxicab industry. With 93 taxi drivers, the town has more cab drivers per capita than any other city in the US. Most local cab drivers are Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
or South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n immigrants.
Bethel is home to the lone detention center
A detention center, or detention centre, is any location used for detention. Specifically, it can mean:
* A jail or prison, a facility in which inmates are forcibly confined and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state as a ...
in southwestern Alaska, the Yukon Kuskokwim Correction Center. This prison has a capacity of 207 inmates, men and women, and a staff of 45.
Bethel is also the site of a proposed major Alaskan coal-fired power station
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many p ...
and a unique prototype single-wire earth return
Single-wire earth return (SWER) or single-wire ground return is a single-wire transmission line which supplies single-phase electric power from an electrical grid to remote areas at lowest cost. Its distinguishing feature is that the earth (or ...
electrical intertie to Napakiak, Alaska, constructed in 1981.
Education
Lower Kuskokwim School District
Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD), or Bethel Public Schools, is a school district headquartered in Bethel, Alaska. it is the largest rural school district in the state, with 4,300 students.
Employment and teacher demographics
In 2017 it had ...
operates five schools in Bethel:
* Gladys Jung Elementary School - Bethel
** Jung, previously known as the Kilbuck School, serves grades 3–6. its enrollment was about 345.
* Mekelnguut Elitnauriviat School - Bethel
** Nicknamed the "M.E. School," it serves grades Kindergarten through 2. it has 260 students and 18 teachers.
* Ayaprun Elitnaurvik School - Bethel
**It is a K-6 Yup'ik-English bilingual program that originated from a total immersion language program established in 1995. the school had 197 students. The school occupies space in Mekelnguut Elitnauriviat and Gladys Jung schools; grades Kindergarten through 1 are in the former and the remainder are in the latter.
* Bethel Regional High School - Bethel
**Known locally as "Bethel High School", it serves grades 7–12. there are approximately 540 students enrolled, and 34 staff members.
* Kuskokwim Learning Academy (alternative)
Other institutions:
* Bethel Alternative Boarding school
* University of Alaska Fairbanks
The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...
* Yuut Elitnaurvik
Sports and recreation
Bethel is home to a noted mid-distance dogsled
A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Traditionally in Greenland and the ...
race, the Kuskokwim 300. Held every January since 1980, the race commemorates an early mail route that once tied the settlement to the outside world. Top mushers and hundreds of sled dog
A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow.
Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transport ...
s participate in the race for a purse of $100,000, the largest offered by any sled dog race.
Local recreational activities include snow machining, skiing, bicycling, kayaking, caribou
Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
hunting, and salmon fishing.
Bethel is an established starting point to Float Alaska wilderness rivers in the Kisaralik, Kwethluk, Aniak, Kanektok, Arolik, Goodnews, Eek and Holitna River systems.
Arts and culture
Traditional dancers from all over Alaska and beyond participate every March in the Cama-i dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
festival. Hundreds of costumed dancers, drummers, and singers perform traditional Yup'ik
The Yup'ik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Central Yup'ik, Alaskan Yup'ik ( own name ''Yup'ik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an I ...
story dances during the three-day festival, sponsored by the Bethel Council on the Arts. "Cama-i" (pronounced Cha-Mai) translates as "a warm hello."
The Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center
The Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center (YPCC), also known as ''Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center and Museum'', formerly known as the ''Yup'ik Museum, Library, and Multipurpose Cultural Center'' (or ''Facility''), is a non-profit cultural center ...
also hosts a bimonthly "Saturday Market" where artisans and crafters from the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta come to sell their crafts. There is a variety at the market, but many of the crafts include traditional Yup'ik qaspeq, story knives, woven baskets, ulu
An ulu ( iu, ᐅᓗ, plural: ''uluit'', 'woman's knife') is an all-purpose knife traditionally used by Inuit, Iñupiat, Yupik peoples, Yupik, and Aleut women. It is utilized in applications as diverse as skinning and cleaning animals, cutting a c ...
knives and more.
Health care
Bethel and the smaller communities surrounding it are primarily served by Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital, a 50-bed general acute care medical facility. Services located in the hospital include an adult medical-surgical ward, a pediatric ward, an obstetric ward, as well as outpatient family medicine clinics, an emergency room, pharmacy, lab, X-ray, and specialty clinics. The facility is accessible by road for those individuals living in or visiting the city of Bethel. Depending on weather and the season, road access to the hospital may also be available to some of the surrounding communities. If not, individuals must be airlifted into the facility via helicopter or air ambulance. Also, there are five sub-regional primary care clinics located in some of the more remote and less populated cities neighboring Bethel ( Emmonak, St. Mary's, Aniak, Toksook Bay
Toksook Bay is a city and village on Nelson Island in Bethel Census Area, Alaska. The population was 590 at the 2010 census, up from 532 in 2000. As of 2018, the estimated population was 667, making it the largest village on the island.
Tokso ...
, and Hooper Bay
Hooper Bay ( esu, Naparyaarmiut) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 1,375, up from 1,093 in 2010.
On August 3, 2006, a major fire destroyed approximately fifteen acres of the city in ...
). Many of the services found at the hospital in Bethel are also available at these sub-regional clinics, such as urgent care, diagnostic review, physical exams, prenatal care, minor surgery, laboratory tests, X-rays, and distribution of medications. The hospital, sub-regional clinics, and additional village clinics are all part of Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation.
Media
Bethel has a public television station, KYUK-LD, and three radio stations, public KYUK, private, non-profit KYKD, and commercial KEDI. Since the founding of its community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...
station in 1970, the media has become part of Yup'ik development in southwest Alaska and important to the people's self-definition. The city is also home to the weekly regional newspapers '' Delta Discovery'' and '' Tundra Drums''.
Sister cities
Bethel has one official sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
.
* Anadyr Anadyr may refer to:
*Anadyr (town), a town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
*Anadyr District
*Anadyr Estuary
*Anadyr (river), a river in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
*Anadyr Highlands
*Anadyr Lowlands
*Operati ...
, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Chukotka (russian: Чуко́тка), officially the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug,, ''Čukotkakèn avtonomnykèn okrug'', is the easternmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia. It is an autonomous okrug situated in the Russian ...
, Russia
Notable people
* John Binkley
John Emerson "Johne" Binkley (born February 4, 1953 in Fairbanks, Alaska) is a riverboat pilot, businessman and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. Binkley served for one term apiece in the Alaska House of Representatives and the ...
(born 1953), businessman, Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
politician
* Valerie Davidson (born 1967), politician
* Nora Guinn
Nora Guinn (November 11, 1920 – July 6, 2005) was an American judge. In 2009, she was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. She was the first woman and first Alaska Native to be a District Court Judge in Alaska.
Early life and educati ...
(1920–2005), judge
* Lyman Hoffman
Lyman F. Hoffman (born February 13, 1950) is a Yup'ik politician and registered Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans in the Alaska Senate. He represents the S district since 1995, and from 1991 through 1992 previously. He was a member of ...
(born 1950), politician
* Peter Kaiser
Peter Kaiser (born 4 December 1958) is an Austrian politician of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Party. Since March 2013 he is List of governors of Carinthia, governor of Carinthia and since March 2010 also chairman of ...
(born 1987), musher
Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most commonl ...
* Oscar Kawagley
Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley (November 8, 1934 – April 27, 2011), best known as Oscar Kawagley, was a Yup'ik anthropologist, teacher and actor from Alaska. He was an associate professor of education at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks until hi ...
(1934–2011), anthropologist
An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
, teacher, actor
* Marie Meade
Marie (Nick) Arnaq Meade (born 1947) is a Central Alaskan Yup'ik people, Yup'ik professor in the humanities and also a Yup'ik tradition bearer. Meade's Yup'ik name is Arnaq which means "woman." She also works and travels with the International Coun ...
(born 1947), dancer
* Jake Metcalfe (born 1958), politician
* Don Page (born 1948), physicist; noted for being a doctoral student of Stephen Hawking
* Mary Sattler Peltola (born 1973), politician
* Tiffany Zulkosky
Tiffany Zulkosky (born May 19, 1984) is an American politician. She has served in the Alaska House of Representatives from District 38 since March 2018. Zulkosky is a Democrat and caucuses with the House Majority Caucus. In 2018, she was appointe ...
(born 1984), politician
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Cities in Alaska
Cities in Bethel Census Area, Alaska
History of the Alaska Province of the Moravian Church
Cities in Unorganized Borough, Alaska
Road-inaccessible communities of Alaska
Populated places established in 1957
1957 establishments in Alaska