The Historic Island Town In Alaska With A Sinister And Terrifying History
By Courtney|Published December 12, 2016
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Courtney
Author
Living and loving life in Alaska, Courtney enjoys living a happy life based on simple principles; work hard, be kind, stay humble. She is an avid dog lover with hobbies that include running, fly fishing, hiking & snowboarding.
A lot can change over a century, and the secluded community of Ukivok on King Island is a great example of just that. For thousands of years this unique place was home to a bustling township that hunted, lived off the land and survived with limited resources. With strong and resilient Inupiat culture, local homesteaders built houses from the ground up and quickly turned them into warm, loving homes. After the WWII draft and continuous tragedies struck, the community endured tough times that they were never able to recover from.
King Island is a very isolated and unique place located in western Alaska.
What makes King Island so unique is that for thousands of years the small community of Ukivok inhabited the rocky banks of the island, but today no inhabitants remain on the island.
With a population of roughly only 200 residents, the people of Ukivok spent their days hunting seals, dancing beneath the midnight sun and living off the land.
The local Inupiat people called themselves Ukivokmiut, which means 'People of the sea.' They gained fame by becoming skilled ivory carvers and selling their pieces to visitors on the mainland during the summer months.
Nearly 75 years ago, the men on King Island were drafted to fight in World War II, cutting the population drastically and leaving many women and children to fend for themselves.
To make matters worse, after a tumultuous rock slide, the Bureau of Indian Affairs made the decision to close the only remaining school on the island in 1959.
The remainder of the local residents were then drawn to the mainland for survival. They were lured by better medical care, schools, jobs and an overall stronger economy that wasn't so stand-alone like King Island was.
Today, the entire island has been deserted and the community of Ukivok is nothing more than a ghost town. In this completely abandoned area, all that remains is history, memories and a small hodge-podge of scarcely standing buildings.
