View source for Afognak, Alaska

{{About|the Alutiiq village|other uses of the name|Afognak (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
| name                    = Afognak
|image_map=Kodiak Island map in Alaska.png
| native_name             = Agw'aneq
| native_name_lang        = Alutiiq
| settlement_type         = Village
|image_skyline            = Nativity of the Holy Theotolokos Church, Afognak Island, Alaska.jpg
|image_caption            = [[Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos, Afognak|Nativity of Holy Theotokos Church]]
|imagesize                = 240px
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| pushpin_map             = Alaska
| pushpin_label_position  = right
| pushpin_label           = Afognak (Ag'waneq)
| pushpin_map_alt         =
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| pushpin_map_caption     = Location of Afognak in Alaska.
| coordinates             = {{coord|58|00|28|N|152|46|05|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes   = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
<!-- location ------------------>
| subdivision_type        = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name        = [[United States of America]]
| subdivision_type1       = [[List of US states|State]]
| subdivision_name1       = [[Alaska]]
| subdivision_type2       = [[List of boroughs in Alaska|Borough]]
| subdivision_name2       = [[Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska|Kodiak Island Borough]]
| subdivision_type3       = [[Island]]
| subdivision_name3       = [[Afognak Island]]
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| established_title       = First settled
| established_date        = abt. 5,500 B.C.E.
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| extinct_title           = Destroyed
| extinct_date            = March 27, 1964 ([[Good Friday earthquake]])
| founder                 =
| named_for               = Named by Russian settlers; derived from Afognak Island in 1839.
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| timezone1               = [[Alaskan Time Zone|AKST]]
| utc_offset1             = -9
| timezone1_DST           = [[Alaskan Time Zone|AKDT]]
| utc_offset1_DST         = -8
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}}
'''Afognak''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|f|ɒ|ɡ|n|æ|k}}; also '''Agw'aneq'''<ref name="uaf">[http://www.uaf.edu/anla/collections/map/names/ ANLC : Alaska Native Place Names]</ref>  in [[Alutiiq language|Alutiiq]] was an [[Alutiiq]] village on the island of [[Afognak]] in [[Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska|Kodiak Island Borough]], [[Alaska]], United States. It was located on [[Afognak Bay]] on the southwest coast of the island, three miles north of [[Kodiak Island]].<ref name="off">[http://www.afognak.org/ Native Village of Afognak.] Native Village of Afognak, n.d. Web. Retrieved July 23, 2013.</ref> The site is now within the CDP of [[Aleneva, Alaska|Aleneva]].
== History ==
=== Prehistory ===
For more than 7,500 years, the Alutiiq people lived in hundreds of settlements in the [[Kodiak Archipelago]]. Like most other early native Alaskan peoples, the people of Afognak fished and hunted sea mammals from [[kayaks]] covered in seal skin. Men and women performed different tasks for the village. The people of Afognak traded services and goods with other settlements in Southeast Alaska and the [[Aleutian chain]].<ref name="off" />
=== The Russian settlement period ===
The [[Russian American Company]] arrived on the island in 1784. The Russians invited and took several men from the village to hunt sea otters for sale in Europe. However, many people died as a result of mistreatment, and the [[History of smallpox#Epidemics in the Americas|smallpox epidemic of 1837–1840]] killed many others in the archipelago. The Alutiiq began to change their lifestyle and governance.<ref name="off" /> The name "Afognak" was derived from Afognak Island and was first reported in 1839 by Russian Sub-Lt. [[Mikhail Murashev]].<ref name="uaf" /> The natives and Russians on the island continued to fish, hunt, and gather food. Despite tensions between the two groups, many Russians and natives married and started families, and many natives learned [[Russian (language)|Russian]] and converted to [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]]. The Alutiiq tradition was not abandoned, however, and was just added to. Many Russian workers who had married into the native community settled into the [[Russian American Company]] retirement communities upon their retirement. Eventually, the community of Russian Town, located next to Aleut Town, grew into the Afognak village, and the two merged.<ref name="off" />
=== The American period ===
The U.S. bought the occupation rights in 1867. Schools that only taught in [[English (language)|English]] were established in regions where no one spoke the language, but by 1900, much of the younger community was [[trilingual]], speaking Alutiiq, Russian, and English. In the late 1800s, the U.S. fishing business began to flourish. The business opened many [[canneries]] in [[Kodiak, Alaska]], and fishermen from [[Scandinavia]] traveled to Alaska. The business in the area raised tension with the Alutiiq, who wanted to keep their fishing lifestyle.<ref name="off" /> A post office was maintained intermittently from 1888 to 1964.<ref name="uaf" />
Afognak was covered by one meter (3&nbsp;ft) of ash when [[Mount Katmai]] erupted in 1912. The 1964 [[Good Friday earthquake]] generated a tsunami which destroyed the village. With help from the [[Lions Club International|Lions Club]] and the federal government, a new community was constructed on the northeast coast of Kodiak Island, called [[Port Lions, Alaska|Port Lions]] in honor of the [[Lions Clubs International|Lions Club]] who helped relocate the village. The former residents of Afognak moved permanently in December 1964,<ref name="uaf" /><ref name="off" /> though 11 residents were still residing there as late as 1980.<ref name="www2.census.gov">{{cite web |title=Census of Population - Number of Inhabitants - Alaska |url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1980a_akABCD-01.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census |date=1980}}</ref>
==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1880= 339
|1890= 409
|1900= 307
|1910= 318
|1920= 308
|1930= 298
|1940= 197
|1950= 148
|1960= 190
|1980= 11
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 6, 2013}}</ref>
}}
Afognak first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village of 339 residents with a "Creole" (mixed Russian and native) majority of 195 and 144 Inuit minority.<ref>{{cite web |title=Areas, Dwellings, and Families |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-17.pdf |website=U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of the Census |date=1880}}</ref> In 1890, the population also included Little Afognak, Cattanee and two Canneries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Report on Population and Resources of Alaska at the Eleventh Census: 1890 |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1890a_v8-01.pdf |publisher=Department of the Interior Census Office}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Report on Population and Resources of Alaska at the Eleventh Census, 1890|url=https://archive.org/details/reportonpopulat01statgoog|year=1893|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/reportonpopulat01statgoog/page/n458 2]}}</ref> It continued to report until the 1960 census. With the 1964 Good Friday earthquake, most of the population departed. It did not appear on the 1970 census, but did in 1980 as an Alaskan Native Village designation.<ref name="www2.census.gov"/> It has not reported separately since, but as of 2000, the original area that included Afognak is now mostly within the CDP of [[Aleneva, Alaska|Aleneva]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Alaska: 2010 Summary Population and Housing Characteristics - 2010 Census of Population and Housing |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-1-3.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202175838/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-1-3.pdf |archive-date=February 2, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Geography==
Afognak was located on the southwestern shore of [[Afognak Island]] in [[Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska|Kodiak Island Borough]], [[Alaska]], United States. It is located three miles north of [[Kodiak Island]].<ref name="off" />
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Portal|Alaska}}
* [https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/dcra/DCRAExternal/community/Details/1c66652f-573d-4e46-8467-e27f4ea79fc7 Afognak] at the Community Database Online from the [[Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development|Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs]]
{{Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1964 disestablishments in Alaska]]
[[Category:Ghost towns in Alaska]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Populated places in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Road-inaccessible communities of Alaska]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in 1964]]
[[Category:Natural disaster ghost towns]]