Kivalina, Alaska
Encyclopedia
Kivalina is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough
, Alaska
, United States
. At the 2000 census the population was 377.
of the Imperial Russian Navy
. It has long been a stopping place for travelers between Arctic coastal areas and Kotzebue Sound
communities. Three bodies and artifacts were found in 2009 representing the Ipiutak culture, a pre-Thule, non-whaling civilization that disappeared over a millennium ago.
It is the only city in the region where people hunt the bowhead whale
. The original village was located at the north end of the Kivalina Lagoon but was relocated.
In about 1900, reindeer
were brought to the area and some people were trained as reindeer herders.
An airstrip was built at Kivalina in 1960. Kivalina incorporated as a second-class city in 1969. During the 1970s, a new school and an electric system were constructed in the city.
Due to severe sea wave erosion during storms, the City hopes to relocate again to a new site 12 km (7.5 mi) from the present site. Studies of alternate sites are ongoing. Financing for the move, estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, is problematic.
es they emit contribute to global warming
that threatens the community's existence. The lawsuit estimates the cost of relocation at $400 million.
Kivalina has also sued Canadian mining company Teck Cominco
for polluting its water source.
located between the Chukchi Sea
and a lagoon at the mouth of the Kivalina River
. It lies 130 km (80.8 mi) northwest of Kotzebue
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10.1 km²), of which, 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5.2 km²) of it (51.55%) is water.
of 2000, there were 377 people, 78 households, and 64 families residing in the city. The population density
was 202.1 people per square mile (77.8/km²). There were 80 housing units at an average density of 42.9 per square mile (16.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 3.45% White
and 96.55% Native American
.
There were 78 households out of which 61.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples
living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.9% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.83 and the average family size was 5.50.
In the city the population was spread out with 44.0% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 20.7% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females there were 106.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,833, and the median income for a family was $30,179. Males had a median income of $31,875 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $8,360. About 25.4% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.9% of those under age 18 and 30.0% of those age 65 or over.
.
Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska
-National protected areas:* Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge ** Chamisso Wilderness* Bering Land Bridge National Preserve * Cape Krusenstern National Monument* Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve...
, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. At the 2000 census the population was 377.
History
Kivalina is an Inupiat community first reported as "Kivualinagmut" in 1847 by Lt. Lavrenty ZagoskinLavrenty Zagoskin
Lavrenty Alekseyevich Zagoskin was a Russian naval officer and explorer of Alaska.Zagoskin was born in 1808 in the Russian district of Penza in a village named Nikolayevka. Even though Nikolayevka was not near the ocean, Zagoskin would eventually train for the Russian Navy and served as a naval...
of the Imperial Russian Navy
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
. It has long been a stopping place for travelers between Arctic coastal areas and Kotzebue Sound
Kotzebue Sound
Kotzebue Sound is an arm of the Chukchi Sea in the western region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is on the north side of the Seward Peninsula and bounded the east by the Baldwin Peninsula. It is long and wide....
communities. Three bodies and artifacts were found in 2009 representing the Ipiutak culture, a pre-Thule, non-whaling civilization that disappeared over a millennium ago.
It is the only city in the region where people hunt the bowhead whale
Bowhead Whale
The bowhead whale is a baleen whale of the right whale family Balaenidae in suborder Mysticeti. A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow to in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh to , second only to the blue whale, although the bowhead's maximum length is less than...
. The original village was located at the north end of the Kivalina Lagoon but was relocated.
In about 1900, reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
were brought to the area and some people were trained as reindeer herders.
An airstrip was built at Kivalina in 1960. Kivalina incorporated as a second-class city in 1969. During the 1970s, a new school and an electric system were constructed in the city.
Due to severe sea wave erosion during storms, the City hopes to relocate again to a new site 12 km (7.5 mi) from the present site. Studies of alternate sites are ongoing. Financing for the move, estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, is problematic.
Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corp., Et al.
The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native Village of Kivalina, sued Exxon Mobil Corporation, eight other oil companies, 14 power companies and one coal company in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco on February 26, 2008, claiming that the large amounts of greenhouse gasGreenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
es they emit contribute to global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
that threatens the community's existence. The lawsuit estimates the cost of relocation at $400 million.
Kivalina has also sued Canadian mining company Teck Cominco
Teck Cominco
Teck Resources Limited known as Teck Cominco until late 2008, is a Canadian mining company. It was formed from the amalgamation of Teck and Cominco in 2001.-History:...
for polluting its water source.
Geography
Kivalina is on the tip of an 12 km (7.5 mi) long barrier islandBarrier island
Barrier islands, a coastal landform and a type of barrier system, are relatively narrow strips of sand that parallel the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen...
located between the Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea
Chukchi Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea. The Bering Strait forms its southernmost limit and connects it to the Bering Sea and the Pacific...
and a lagoon at the mouth of the Kivalina River
Kivalina River
The Kivalina River is a long river in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alaska, flowing into Kivalina Lagoon in the Northwest Arctic Borough. It begins in the De Long Mountains and flows southwest through Kivalina Lagoon to the Chukchi Sea. It's Inuit name was spelled "Kuveleek" by...
. It lies 130 km (80.8 mi) northwest of Kotzebue
Kotzebue, Alaska
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,082 people, 889 households, and 656 families residing in the city. The population density was 114.1 people per square mile . There were 1,007 housing units at an average density of 37.3 per square mile...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 3.9 square miles (10.1 km²), of which, 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (5.2 km²) of it (51.55%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 377 people, 78 households, and 64 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 202.1 people per square mile (77.8/km²). There were 80 housing units at an average density of 42.9 per square mile (16.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 3.45% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
and 96.55% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
.
There were 78 households out of which 61.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.9% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.83 and the average family size was 5.50.
In the city the population was spread out with 44.0% under the age of 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 20.7% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females there were 106.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,833, and the median income for a family was $30,179. Males had a median income of $31,875 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $8,360. About 25.4% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.9% of those under age 18 and 30.0% of those age 65 or over.
Environmental Issues
On August 4, 2011, it was reported that residents of the city of Kivalina had seen a strange orange goo wash up on the shores. According to the Associated Press, "Tests have been conducted on the substance on the surface of the water in Kivalina. City Administrator Janet Mitchell told the Associated Press that the substance has also shown up in some residents' rain buckets." On August 8, 2011, Associated Press reported that the substance consisted of millions of microscopic eggs.. Later, officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that the orange colored materials were some kind of crustacean eggs or embryos,, but subsequent examination resulted in a declaration that the substance consisted of spores from a possibly undescribed species of rust fungusRust (fungus)
Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales. About 7800 species are known. Rusts can affect a variety of plants; leaves, stems, fruits and seeds. Rust is most commonly seen as coloured powder, composed off tiny aeciospores which land on vegetation producing...
.
External links
- http://tv.oneworld.net/2009/04/23/kivalina-the-canary-in-the-mine-5-min-snippet/Short documentary on OneWorldTVOneWorldTVOneWorldTV is a nonprofit internet video sharing and social networking site aiming to Climate Change, Human Rights, Social Justice Sustainable Development etc. OneWorldTV is part of OneWorld.net an international network of centres....
about the effects of climate change on Kivalina]