Nelson Island () is an island in the Bethel Census Area of southwestern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. 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''; ) 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 a latitude of about 60°N. The ...

to its southwest by the

Etolin Strait Etolin Strait is a strait of the Pacific Ocean in western Alaska, the United States. It is located inside the Nunivak Island, Etolin Strait, and Kuskokwim Bay Habitat Conservation Area, an 8.2 million acre essential fish habitat established in 200 ...

. Nelson Island has four permanent communities along its coast: * Tununak *

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. Toks ...

* Nightmute *

Mertarvik Mertarvik (; ) is a village in the Bethel Census Area, Alaska. In 2019 the first residents from the town of Newtok, which is eroding, began to arrive. By 2020, about 130 residents were there. In 2020, the State of Alaska had not sent voting prim ...

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 Toksook Bay is a city and village on ...

, a seasonally occupied

fish camp A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fish, ...

is also located on the island. 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 () is a small village on the Ningliq River in the Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population is zero as of late 2024, down from 321 in 2000, and the village has been abandoned. Climate change and river erosion forced the ...

, 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 The Yupik (; ) are a group of Indigenous or Aboriginal peoples of western, southwestern, and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They are related to the Inuit and Iñupiat. Yupik peoples include the following: * Alutiiq, or Sugpia ...

, 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, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

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.Alaska
/ref> 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