Chugach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chugach (IPA pronunciation: ['tʃuː gætʃ]) is the name of an Alaska Native culture and group of people in the region of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound.
Chugach National Forest spans parts of the Kenai Peninsula and the area around Prince William Sound.
The Chugach Mountains run 300 miles between the Copper River to the east and to Whittier to the west. The southern boundary is Prince William Sound.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation, Chugach Alaska Corporation, is so named because many of the shareholders are of the Chugach culture. The corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1991 as a result a fallout in the timber industry, a salmon glut, a fire at its Orca cannery, and the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill's impact on the local herring population. In 2003 Chugach ranked second in Alaska Business Monthly’s list of Top 49ers, a ranking of the top Alaskan-owned and operated businesses.
In 1964, a tsunami generated by the Good Friday Earthquake destroyed the Chugach village of Chenega.
Circa 1950 the average life expectancy for the Chugach people was 38 years. (The Best Democracy Money Can Buy p.107.)
