Dago Creek (

Sugpiaq The Alutiiq people (pronounced in English; from Promyshlenniki Russian Алеутъ, "Aleut"; plural often "Alutiit"), also called by their ancestral name ( or ; plural often "Sugpiat"), as well as Pacific Eskimo or Pacific Yupik, are a sout ...

: ''Kuigaa'aq'') is a stream, long, on the Alaska Peninsula in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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. ...

. Beginning in a small lake southeast of Egegik, it meanders southwest across the flats to enter Ugashik Bay southeast of

Smoky Point Smoky Point is a point of land in the U.S. state of Alaska, located at , where Ugashik Bay joins the much larger Bristol Bay. The most easily distinguishable landmark is the United States Coast Guard lighthouse which is visible to mariners on ...

. The name derives from the numerous Sicilian

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

who would anchor in the protected waters during closed fishing periods and collectively celebrate their heritage with plenty of food and wine. At first used in a pejorative way, the Sicilians embraced the terminology and the name stuck, becoming official when the area was first definitively mapped in 1943. The area is still used as a small boat harbor for the nearby village of Pilot Point, especially with the completion of a bulkhead-style dock and boat launch in 1990. Although a few fish swim up, and reportedly spawn in, its waters, the stream is primarily a drain for the multitude of small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s, marshland and

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

of the coastal zone north of Ugashik Bay. The creek generally flows from north to south, beginning with the drainage from Dago Lake, a large but shallow freshwater lake located approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of the creek's mouth. It then begins a slow and meandering path towards the sea, with several oxbow lakes and false channels along the way. Though relatively narrow, the entire length of the stream has been navigated by vessels from the Bristol Bay fishing fleet. The creek also serves to break the contiguous land mass of the north/east shore of Ugashik Bay, separating the village of Pilot Point from the neighboring community of Smoky Point. It also serves as a point of subsistence salmon fishing, although its waters are officially closed to commercial fishing activity. Local Alaska Natives also catch abundant supplies of small, oily, herring-like fish called

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''Ath ...

which helps supplement the local diet.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska Rivers of Alaska

See also

References