Nelson Island ( esu, Qaluyaaq) is an island in the

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 ci ...

of southwestern

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., ...

. It is 42 miles (68 km) long and 20–35 miles (32–56 km) wide. With an area of 843 square miles (2,183 km²), it is the 15th largest island in the United States. It is separated from the Alaska mainland to its north by the

Ningaluk River Ningaluk River (also Ninglick River) (''Ningliq'' in Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik) is a channel, long, between Baird Inlet and Hazen Bay on the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. Flowing generally west, it enters the bay north of ...

, to its east by the Kolavinarak River and from

Nunivak Island Nunivak Island ( Central Alaskan Yup'ik: ; Nunivak Cup'ig: ''Nuniwar''; russian: Нунивак, Nunivak) is a permafrost-covered volcanic island lying about offshore from the delta of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers in the US state of Alaska, at ...

to its southwest by the

Etolin Strait Etolin Strait is a strait of the Pacific Ocean in western Alaska, the United States. Geography The strait connects Kuskokwim Bay and the Bering Sea, at . It is long and 48–80 km (30-50) miles wide. It is known for strong tidal currents. ...

. Nelson Island has four villages, all located on the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea (, ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Ameri ...

coast in the southwest part of the island: * Tununak in the west, *

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 ...

, ** including

Umkumiut Umkumiut is a seasonal hunting and fishing camp situated in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. This community is not an independent village as it is counted as part of the community of Toksook Bay. It was also the spring camp site for re ...

, a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

in Toksook Bays's city limits, *

Nightmute Nightmute ( esu, Negtemiut or ) is a city and village in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 208 at the 2000 census and 280 as of the 2010 census. History literally means ‘the people of the pressed-down place ...

, southeast of Tununak, in the farther east near the edge of the island. *

Mertarvik Mertarvik (Yup'ik: ''Mertarvik'' məχ'təχvik.html"_;"title="Help:IPA.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Help:IPA">məχ'təχvik">Help:IPA.html"_;"title="nowiki/> məχ'təχvikEnglish_language.html"__"title="Help:IPA">məχ'təχvik.html"_;"title="Help:IP ...

A snowmobile trail connects the Tununak and Nightmute in the winter. These three communities comprise the entire population of the island at 1,065 inhabitants as of the 2000 census. The largest community is Toksook Bay. The rest of the island, over 77 percent of its area, is unpopulated. The village of

Newtok Newtok ( esu, Niugtaq) is a small village on the Ningliq River in the Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census, the population was 354, up from 321 in 2000. Climate change is forcing the primarily Central Yup'ik Alaska Nati ...

, on the mainland across the Ningaluk River north of the island, is in the process of being moved to Nelson Island, due to erosion of the water table in the area where Newtok is currently located. The natives are Yupiit, who maintain a predominantly traditional diet, fishing and hunting musk ox and caribou.

Etymology

Nelson Island was named after

Edward William Nelson Edward William Nelson (May 8, 1855 – May 19, 1934) was an American naturalist and ethnologist. A collector of specimens and field naturalist of repute, he became a member of several expeditions to survey the fauna and flora. He was part o ...

, a

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

naturalist and ethnologist who studied the island and people there in 1878.

Demographics

Nelson Island reported on the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Censuses as an unincorporated area (which included 5 villages on the 1940 census, including Nevortolemute, Nigtmuit (Nightmute), Pngortalick, Tanunak (Tununak), and Ukak).https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/33973538v1ch11.pdf It has not reported as a separate entity since.

References

Nelson Island (Alaska) places and census blocks
United States Census Bureau, Census of 2000 * United States Geological Surve
Geographic names identification system
{{authority control Islands of the Bering Sea Islands of Alaska Islands of Bethel Census Area, Alaska Islands of Unorganized Borough, Alaska