Aleut’s call themselves,
Unangan, in their language.

The City of Adak is located on Kuluk Bay on Adak Island near the end of the Aleutian Chain. As of 2020, Adak has a recorded population of 171 residents, including 38 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Flight time to Anchorage is three hours or longer, depending on weather conditions. This community lies 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage and 450 miles west of Dutch Harbor. Adak is the southernmost community in Alaska and on the same latitude as Haida Gwaii in Canada, and Brussels, Belgium. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 127.3 square miles (330 km2).

Akutan is the site of an ancient Unangax village. The village is located on Akutan Island in the eastern Aleutians, on one of the Krenitzin Islands of the Fox Island group. Akutan is 35 miles east of Unalaska, and 766 air miles southwest of Anchorage. After the Japanese attached Unalaska in June 1942, the U.S. Government evacuated Akutan residents to the Ketchikan area. The village was reestablished in 1944. As of 2020, the Akutan village has a recorded population of 1,589 local residents Akutan, including 57 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Akutan is a fishing community and commercial fish processing dominates Akutan’s cash-based economy, and many locals are seasonally employed. Trident Seafoods operates a large processing plant west of the village for cod, crab, pollock and fish meal. The population of Akutan can double during processing months. Subsistence foods include seal, salmon, herring, halibut, clams, wild cattle, and game birds. The State Ferry typically operates between Homer and Akutan from May through September. Cargo is delivered weekly by freighter from Seattle; the village owns and operates a landing craft, the M/V Akutan. Akutan has no airstrip due to the steep terrain, however, a runway is available on nearby Akun Island. Transport between Akutan and Akun is available daily via helicopter.

Atka is located on Atka Island, 1,100 miles from Anchorage and 90 miles east of Adak. As of 2020, the community has a recorded population of 53 residents, including 50 American Indian and Alaska Natives. The Aleut language is still spoken in one-quarter of homes. The St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church is a central part of village life. Sea lions and other sea mammals are an important part of the subsistence lifestyle, and meat is shared village-wide on an informal basis. The economy is based on subsistence living and wages earned from the halibut fishery. Year-round income opportunities in the village are limited to education, government and public health related work. A reindeer herd of over 2,500 head provides a source of meat.

Cold Bay is located on the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, 634 miles from Anchorage. As of 2020 it had a population of 50, including 13 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Cold Bay is one of the main commercial centers of the Alaska Peninsula and is important as the hub for surrounding villages. It is the home of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Abundant shorebirds and waterfowl, as well as caribou, fox, and brown bear, make it a popular spot for sportsmen and naturalists. Two active volcanoes provide a spectacular backdrop when frequent inclement weather allows a glimpse.

False Pass is located on the eastern shore of Unimak Island on a strait connecting the Pacific Gulf of Alaska to the Bering Sea. It is 646 air miles southwest of Anchorage. The estimated population in 2020 was 397, including 40 American Indian or Alaska Natives. The community is primarily Unangan. Fishing, fish processing and subsistence activities are the mainstays of local lifestyle. The local economy is driven by commercial salmon fishing and fishing services. False Pass is an important refueling stop for Bristol Bay and Bering Sea fishing fleets. Cash income is supplemented by subsistence hunting and fishing. Salmon, halibut, geese, caribou, seals and wild cattle on Sanak Island are utilized.

King Cove is located on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula, on a sand spit fronting Deer Passage and Deer Island in the Aleutian Islands. It is 18 miles southeast of Cold Bay and 620 miles southwest of Anchorage. The population in 2020 was 757, including 327 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Scandinavians have historically influenced the cultural, economic and social structures. King Cove is a mixed non-Native and Unangan community. King Cove’s economy depends on the year-round commercial fishing and seafood processing industries. The Peter Pan facility is one of the largest cannery operations under one roof in Alaska. Up to 500 non-residents are brought up to work in the cannery as needed. Income is supplemented by subsistence activities. Salmon, caribou, geese and ptarmigan provide food sources.

Nelson Lagoon is located on the northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, on a narrow sand spit that separates the lagoon from the Bering Sea. Once a seasonal fishing camp used by the Unangax people, Nelson Lagoon is a permanent community with commercial fishing as it primary economic base. Nelson Lagoon is 580 miles southwest of Anchorage and 70 miles north of Cold Bay. As of 2020, the village had a recorded population of 41 residents, including 38 American Indian or Alaska Natives. The resources of the lagoon and nearby Bear River are abundant in salmon. The culture is focused on commercial fishing and subsistence activities. There is a strong community pride and loyalty among the residents, with a desire to maintain their lifestyle. Nelson Lagoon is situated in the middle of a rich and productive salmon fisheries area. Subsistence activities balance the seasonal nature of the fishery.

The Village of Nikolski is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the world. Archaeological evidence from Ananiuliak Island, on the north side of Nikolski Bay, dates back as far as 8,500 years ago. Nikolski is located on Nikolski Bay, off the southwest end of Umnak Island, one of the Fox Islands. As of 2020, the village has a recorded population of 39 residents, including 28 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Nikolski is 116 air miles west of Unalaska, and 900 air miles from Anchorage. The Aleut language is spoken in most residents’ homes. Subsistence activities and tourism-related employment sustain the community. Most residents support themselves by working for the tribal council and seasonal tourism related jobs. Income is supplemented by subsistence activities, which provide a substantial part of the villagers’ diets. Salmon, halibut, seals and ducks are all part of the local diet.

The community of Sand Point is located on northwestern Popof Island, off the Alaska Peninsula. In 2020 the city had a population of 578, including 342 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Almost half the inhabitants are of Aleut descent, mainly from the Qagan Tayagungin Tribe. Sand Point is characterized as self-sufficient and progressive, with commercial fishing activities at the heart of the local culture. Sand Point is home to the largest fishing fleet in the Aleutian Chain. There is a cold storage, fish meal, and fish-processing plant owned and operated by Trident Seafoods and Peter Pan Seafoods has a support facility in the community. There is a large transient population for fishing and cannery work. Two exploratory mining operations are currently underway nearby, namely Battle Mountain Gold and Alaska Apollo. Locals participate in subsistence consumption of fish and caribou. The town is above the tree line, and there is a small herd of 120 bison which provides some meat for the island’s inhabitants. It is notorious for the high winds caused by the meeting of cold air flows from the Bering Sea with the warm air over the Japan Current. Every July the town hosts a Culture Camp in which Aleut traditions such as dance, sewing Aleut dresses, playing drums, building kayaks, knot tying, and weaving are taught. Culture Camp has an Aleut language component built into the program.

St. George is located on the northeast shore of St. George Island, the southern-most of five islands in the Pribilof’s. Over 210 species of birds nest on the cliffs of St. George Island. At the 2020 census the population was 67, 63 of which are American Indian or Alaska Native. St. George is predominantly Aleut, with a small Eskimo and Indian population. The Pribilof Island seal population and the community’s dependence on it has been a major influence on the local culture. More than a million fur seals congregate on the islands every summer. Most employment is in government positions and commercial fishing including salmon, shellfish and halibut. Fur seals, halibut, reindeer, marine invertebrates, plants and berries contribute to the local diet.

St. Paul is located on a narrow peninsula on the southern tip of St. Paul Island, the largest of five islands in the Pribilof’s. It lies 47 miles north of St. George Island, 240 miles north of the Aleutian Islands, 300 miles west of the Alaska mainland, and 750 miles west of Anchorage. St. Paul is predominantly Aleut, with a small Eskimo and Indian population. As of 2020 the population was 413, including 374 American Indian or Alaska Natives. Halibut and seal are shared and exchanged with relatives living in other communities for salmon and reindeer. The Russian Orthodox Church plays a strong role in community cohesiveness. St. Paul is a port for the Central Bering Sea fishing fleet, and recent port and harbor improvements have fueled economic growth. The local commercial halibut fishery got its start in 1981, and a Trident Seafoods crab processing plant was built in 1989. Cold storage was also recently completed. Fish processors operate near the harbor, and offshore processors are serviced out of St. Paul. Fur seal rookeries and more than 210 species of nesting seabirds attract almost 700 tourists annually. The community is working to develop eco-tourism.

Aleuts called the Pribilof’s Amiq, Aleut for “land of mother’s brother” or “related land”. According to their oral tradition, the son of a Unimak Island elder found them after paddling north in his boat in an attempt to survive a storm that caught him out at sea; when the winds finally died, he was lost in dense fog—until he heard the sounds of Saint Paul’s vast seal colonies.

Unalaska overlooks Illiuliuk Bay and Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Chain. It lies 800 air miles from Anchorage, a two- to three-hour flight, and 1,700 miles northwest of Seattle. It is the chief center of population in the Aleutian Islands, with 4,254 residents at the 2020 census, including 326 American Indian or Alaska Natives. The Unangan people have lived on Unalaska Island for thousands of years, who named the island “Ounalashka”, meaning “near the peninsula”. The regional native corporation has adopted this moniker, and is known as the Ounalashka Corporation Unalaska is a rapidly-growing and culturally-diverse community. Unalaska’s economy is based on commercial fishing, fish processing, and fleet services such as fuel, repairs and maintenance, trade and transportation. The community enjoys a strategic position as the center of a rich fishing area, and cargo shipment. Almost all of the community’s port facilities are on Amaknak Island, better known as Dutch Harbor or just “Dutch”. It is the largest fisheries port in the U.S. by volume caught. Subsistence activities remain important to the Unangan community and many long-term non-Native residents as well.

Unimak Island is the first island in the 1,400 mile long Aleutian Island Chain in Alaska. The Unimak Island website offers an integral view of the Unimak Island area of Alaska with a focus on history. It provides a broad sweep of cultural and physical environmental information presented in its proper ecological context.