The Unuk River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

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 sover ...

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., ...

and the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It flows from the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

southwest to

Behm Canal Behm Canal is a natural channel in the Alexander Archipelago, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alaska. About long, Behm Canal separates Revillagigedo Island from the mainland. From the Clarence Strait, Behm Canal extends north and n ...

, northeast of

Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 202 ...

. From its headwaters in a heavily glaciated area in British Columbia, south of the lower

Iskut River The Iskut River, located in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia is the largest tributary of the Stikine River, entering it about above its entry into Alaska. From its source at Kluachon Lake the Iskut River flows south and wes ...

, the Unuk flows west and south for , crossing into Alaska and emptying into Burroughs Bay, an inlet of Behm Canal. In Alaska the river flows through the

Misty Fjords National Monument Misty Fjords National Monument (or Misty Fiords National Monument) is a national monument and wilderness area administered by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Tongass National Forest. Misty Fiords is about east of Ketchikan, Alaska, along ...

.Unuk River Chinook Salmon Studies
Alaska Department of Fish and Game In

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

it is called ''Joonáx̱'', the meaning of which is obscure but may have to do with dreaming (cf. ''aawajoon'' “he dreamed”). It is occasionally referred to as ''Oonáx̱'', which is a reduced form. The

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

reports that a 1906 publication said the correct name for the river is “Junuk” or “Junock”, but it is unclear whether the initial sound is supposed to be an affricate or an approximant . The former sound would reflect the full Tlingit name, the latter the English adaptation. The Unuk River supports relatively large runs of

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

, including chinook, coho, pink, chum, and sockeye.

References

The name Unuk is derived from the Tlingit name for the area, Joonáxh (Place of Dreams).

External links

* {{authority control Rivers of Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Rivers of the Boundary Ranges Stikine Country International rivers of North America