Allakaket, Alaska

Allakaket Aalaa Kkaakk’et
City
Aerial view of Allakaket
Allakaket Location in Alaska
Coordinates: 66°33′48″N 152°38′50″W
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Census Area	Yukon-Koyukuk
Incorporated	1975
Area
• Total	17.03 sq mi (44.12 km2)
• Land	14.72 sq mi (38.12 km2)
• Water	2.32 sq mi (6.00 km2)
Elevation	400 ft (122 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	177
• Density	12.03/sq mi (4.64/km2)
Time zone	UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-8 (AKDT)
ZIP code	99720
Area code	907
FIPS code	02-01860
GNIS feature ID	1398129
Website	AK Municipal League listing

Allakaket (/æləˈkækɪt/ al-ə-KAK-it) (Aalaa Kkaakk’et in Koyukon) is a city in the state of Alaska, in the United States. It is in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area of the Unorganized Borough. There were 177 people living in the city in 2020.

Location

Allakaket's coordinates are 66°33′48″N 152°38′50″W (66.562610, -152.64756) (Sec. 14, T020N, R024W, Fairbanks Meridian.) It is in the Fairbanks Recording District. (In Alaska, the Recorder's Office is a part of the government that keeps track of who owns land. The Recording District is the area that a particular Recorder's Office is in charge of. Allakaket's Recording Office is in the city of Fairbanks, Alaska.)

Allakaket is on the bank (side) of the Koyukuk River. It is south of the place where the Koyukuk joins the Alatna River. The city is about 190 miles (310 km) northwest of Fairbanks, Alaska. It is about 57 miles (92 km) up the river from Hughes, Alaska. The village of Alatna, Alaska is on the other side of the Koyukuk River from Allakaket.

The United States Census Bureau says that Allakaket's size is 17.0 square miles (44 km²). It has 14.7 square miles (38 km²) of land and 2.3 square miles (6 km²) of water. 13.6% of the city's area is water.

Weather

The area around Allakaket has a cold, continental climate. The difference between the high temperature and the low temperature is very large. In July, the average high temperature is 70 °F (21 °C). In January, the average low temperature is −40 °F (−40 °C). The highest temperature ever was 94 °F (34 °C). The lowest temperature ever was −75 °F (−59 °C).

Allakaket gets about 13 inches (330 mm) of precipitation every year. Precipitation is any kind of water falling from the sky to the earth. Rain, sleet, and snow are all kinds of precipitation. The city usually gets about 72 inches (1,800 mm) of snow every year. When it is cold, the Koyukuk River will have ice on it. There is usually no ice from June until November.

History and culture

There are different Native American groups that live or used to live around Allakaket. Some of these are the Koyukon Athabascans and the Kobuk, Selawik, and Nunamiut Eskimos. The Koyukon did not live in one place. They liked to move around. They moved to different camps when the seasons changed. They moved to new places by following the wild animals and fish. After 1851, the groups started making settlements.

A mission was built on the Koyukuk River in 1906. (A mission is a settlement where religious people try to make the local people because Christian.) The mission was called St. John's-in-the-Wilderness Episcopal Mission. A post office was built in 1925. In 1938, the name of the community was changed to Allakaket.

The first public school was started in 1957. In 1964 there was a big flood. Some ice got stuck ("jammed") in the river. 85% of the community was flooded. (This means that 85% of the city was under water.)

In 1975, the community was incorporated as a city. This means that there was an official government set up and the borders of the city are decided. The City covered both Allakaket and Alatna on the other side of the river. In September 1994, the city flooded again. The water destroyed almost all of the buildings, houses, and food. The people who lived in Alakaket built the city again near where the original city was. Some of the new buildings are outside of the City boundaries (borders). These buildings outside of the city limits are called New Allakaket and Alatna.

There is a federally-recognized tribe in the community. It is called the Allakaket Village. The people who live in Allakaket are mostly (95.9%) Alaska Native. Most of the people in Allakaket are Athabascan. The Kobuk Eskimos live in Alatna on the other side of the river. It is not allowed to buy, sell, or own alcohol in the village.

Demographics

In 2020, there were 177 people living in Allakaket. These people made up 71 households. The population density was 14.7 people per square mile (38.1 people/km²). 84.2% of the people were Native American, 11.3% were white, and 4.0% were mixed race.

The median income for a household in 2021 was $22,000 per year. The median income for a family was $24,167. 59.2% of the people lived below the poverty line.