The Community
The villagelies about 250 miles northwest of Fairbanks and about the same distance southeast of Barrow. Anaktuvuk is perhaps the most scenic village on the North Slope, surrounded by tall mountains and near rivers and lakes. The community is located in the Gates of the Arctic National Parks and Preserve.
Anaktuvuk Pass, a historic caribou migration route, is the last remaining settlement of the inland Inupiat Eskimos, the Nunamiut. The original nomadic Nunamiut left the Brooks Range and scattered in the early 1900s, mostly due to the collapse of the caribou population. By the 1940s, several Nunamiut families returned to the area and settled at the broad, treeless Anaktuvuk Pass, "the place of caribou droppings." The community was incorporated as a second class city in 1957.

There is a year-round museum in Anaktuvuk Pass, which focuses on the early natural, geological and cultural history of the area, including the migration of people across the Bering Land Bridge. The museum also displays Nunamiut clothing, household goods and hunting implements used around the time of the first contact with Westerners.

Population/Economy
In 1998, there were about 314 people living in Anaktuvuk Pass and a work force of 147. Inupiat Eskimos make up nearly 92 percent of the population. Anaktuvuk's economy is largely based on subsistence hunting of caribou. The private sector employs close to one-third of the labor force, the North Slope Borough employs 45 percent, and the School District employs another 20 percent. Residents also produce caribou skin masks and carvings for sale.

Quality of Life
The North Slope Borough provides Anaktuvuk Pass with public electricity and delivers lake water from the village well. The NSB also provides trash and sewage pick-up free of charge. Most households have running water and flush toilets.

A health clinic, staffed by community health aides, is open during the day and available 24 hours a day for emergencies. Anaktuvuk has a public safety building and a fire station, equipped with fire engines and an ambulance.

The Nunamiut School provides public education, with classes from pre-school through grade 12. Vocational education and adult basic education is also available.

The local Village Corporation, Nunamiut Corporation, owns a grocery and merchandise store, and also sells propane fuel and gasoline. Law prohibits the sale or possession of alcoholic beverages.

Transportation to Anaktuvuk Pass is available via scheduled and chartered flights from Fairbanks or Barrow. Cargo arrives by air transport. Communications in the village include phone, mail, public radio and cable television.

For More Information Contact:
City of Anaktuvuk Pass
P.O. Box 21030
Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska 99721
(907) 661-3612