The area around Nuiqsut has been the scene of subsistence food gathering, trading and nomadic contact between groups of coastal and inland Iñupiat (Eskimo) for centuries.  The population of the Arctic region began to consolidate, during this century, in communities such as Barrow the advent of schools, stores and health services.  As a consequence, traditional sites, such as Nuiqsut, became largely unoccupied.  However, in 1973-74 under the auspices of the new regional corporation Act of 1971, a number of families from Barrow, with roots in the Nuiqsut area, re-established the village.  As a consequence, Nuiqsut has a very “modern,” planned appearance since it has been platted and constructed in very recent times.

The population of Nuiqsut has shown a recent growth spurt due to the employment provided by the oil exploration and production facility development near the village.  It presently totals approximately 420 people and about eighty-five percent are Iñupiat (Eskimos).  The North Slope Borough is the principal employer with about forty-three percent of the workforce involved in production of electricity, water and sewage treatment, and maintenance of roads and public facilities.  In addition, local residents are employed to provide, health, education, public safety, and administrative services.  The North Slope Borough School District accounts for about 20 percent of the workforce.  The Kuukpik Corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies is the other major employer with a third of the current work force.  The subsistence hunting, fishing and whaling activities remain a significant component of the local economy.

Nuiqsut, with the recent development of the neighboring “Alpine” oil production facility just eight miles to the north, has become and even more active community.  Its growth is supported by a number of modern public facilities.  These include and elementary and high school complex, power generation plant, water and sewage treatment facilities, Laundromat, a public health clinic, police station, fire station, a community teleconference center, and post office.  There is also a general store, shop and a “camp,” or industrial hotel/cafeteria, owned and operated by the village corporation.

The telecommunication facilities serving Nuiqsut include a fully digital local exchange telephone service, local dial-up Internet, cellular telephone, cable-TV, public radio broadcast and the community-access public teleconferencing center.  Interconnection with the regional and global telecommunications network is via satellite circuits which currently present a limitation to the residents needing access to higher bandwidth services.  The North Slope Borough, in coordination with the North Slope Borough School District, leases private circuits and maintains a “long-distance” network in order to provide distance education, telehealth and support for governmental service administration in the community.  Physical transportation, as is the case in the other North Slope villages, is provided by scheduled and chartered aircraft.  These flights are from Barrow, Prudhoe Bay-Deadhorse and Fairbanks.  Surface transportation to Nuiqsut is possible during the winter months when an ice road is maintained between the community, via the Colville River, and the Alyeska Pipeline gravel highway to the east.