Tyonek, Alaska
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Tyonek or Present / New Tyonek ( Dena'ina: ''Qaggeyshlat'' - ″little place between toes") is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
(CDP) in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of
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 ...
. As of the 2020 census the population was 152, down from 171 in 2010. In 1973, the community formed the Tyonek Native Corporation (TNC) under the
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by U.S. President, President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting what is still the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to reso ...
and is federally recognized.


History

A Dena'ina
Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...
village at Tyonek was noted by the explorer
James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
in 1778. The Lebedev-Lastochkin Company, a Russian
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
venture, maintained a small trapping station on the site of Tyonek.Solojova, Katerina and Aleksandra Vovnyanko. ''The Rise and Decline of the Lebedev-Lastochkin Company: Russian Colonization of South Central Alaska, 1787-1798.'' The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 90, No. 4 (1999), pp. 191-205. A detachment of the
Vancouver Expedition The Vancouver Expedition (1791–1795) was a four-and-a-half-year voyage of exploration and diplomacy, commanded by Captain George Vancouver of the Royal Navy. The British expedition circumnavigated the globe and made contact with five continen ...
under
Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first Eu ...
visited the trading post in May 1794. Whidbey found that the LLC maintained "one large house, about fifty feet long, twenty-four wide, and about ten feet high; this was appropriated to the residence of nineteen Russians..." A
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
epidemic in the late 1830s killed about half the population. Tyonek became a major port during the
Resurrection Creek Resurrection Creek is a waterway in the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, US. Along with Bear Creek, Six Mile Creek (Alaska), Sixmile Creek, and Glacier Creek, it is a tributary of Turnagain Arm. The stream's watershed drains on the north side of the Kena ...
gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...
of the 1880s, but declined after the founding of
Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...
on the other side of
Cook Inlet Cook Inlet (; Sugpiaq language, Sugpiaq: ''Cungaaciq'') stretches from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage in south-central Alaska. Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm at its northern end, almost surrounding ...
in 1915. Tyonek was moved to its current site when the original village, located on lower ground, flooded in the 1930s.


Geography

Tyonek is located at (61.060470, -151.230697). Although politically in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, it is located on the mainland on the northwest side of Cook Inlet, across from the
Kenai Peninsula The Kenai Peninsula ( Dena'ina: ''Yaghenen'') is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai (, ) is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe ...
. It is bordered to the northeast by the community of
Beluga Beluga may refer to: Animals *Beluga (sturgeon) * Beluga whale Vehicles * Airbus Beluga, a large transport airplane * Airbus BelugaXL, a larger transport airplane * Beluga-class submarine, a class of Russian SSA diesel-electric submarine * U ...
. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.61%, are water. The CDP extends from Trading Bay in the west to the mouth of the Chuitna River in the northeast. The present village of Tyonek, with an airstrip, is in the northeast part of the CDP, between the Chuitna River and Tyonek Creek.


Demographics

Tyonek first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated
Tinneh The Alaskan Athabascans, Alaskan AthapascansWilliam Simeone, ''A History of Alaskan Athapaskans'', 1982, Alaska Historical Commission or Dena () are Alaska Native peoples of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. They are the original in ...
village of "Toyonok Station and Village". It featured 117 residents, including 109 Tinneh, 6 Creole (Mixed Russian & Native) and 2 Whites. This settlement was initially located at Beshta Bay. It returned again as "Toyonok" in 1890 with 115 residents, all Native. In 1900, it returned as Tyonek. It did not report on the 1910 census. It returned again in 1920. In 1930, it reported 78 residents, of which 74 were Native and 4 were White. In the early 1930s, residents began to relocate northeast to a new site, the "new" Tyonek, situated on higher ground because of flooding. The original site became known as "Old Tyonek" or Tubughnen ("beach land"). Beginning with the 1940 census, the figures reflected the "New / Second Tyonek" or Tank'itnu ("fish dock stream"). Old Tyonek did not report separately again. The ″Present / New Tyonek″ or Qaggeyshlat (″little place between toes") was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980. The boundaries of the CDP now include the original (Old) Tyonek. As of the census of 2000, there were 193 people, 66 households, and 45 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 134 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 4.66%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
and 95.34% Native American. 2.59% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race. There were 66 households, out of which 42.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.3% were married couples living together, 22.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.92 and the average family size was 3.42. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 37.3% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 33.7% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females, there were 124.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 128.3 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $26,667, and the median income for a family was $29,792. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $26,250 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the CDP was $11,261. About 2.1% of families and 13.9% 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 ...
, including none of those under the age of eighteen or sixty five or over.


References


External links


History of Tyonek
{{authority control Census-designated places in Alaska Census-designated places in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean Road-inaccessible communities of Alaska