Little Diomede

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Diomede, Alaska
Location of Diomede, Alaska
Coordinates: 65°45′35″N 168°55′39″W / 65.75972, -168.9275
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Census Area	Nome
Area
- Total	2.8 sq mi (7.4 km²)
- Land	2.8 sq mi (7.4 km²)
- Water	0 sq mi (0 km²)
Elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	146
Time zone	Alaska (AKST) (UTC-9)
- Summer (DST)	AKDT (UTC-8)
ZIP code	99762
Area code(s)	907
FIPS code	02-19060
GNIS feature ID	1401213

Little Diomede (native name Ignaluk) ^[1] is a small, but inhabited island in Alaska, US and is one of the two Diomede Islands located in the middle of the Bering Strait between mainland Alaska, US and Siberia, Russia. Its neighboring island Big Diomede, Russia behind the International Date Line is less than 4 km (2.4 miles) away. The native village of Diomede (native name Inalik, meaning the other one or the one over there,^[2] and officially City of Diomede) located on the west side of the Little Diomede is the only settlement on the island.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Geology 3 History 3.1 1648-1867 3.2 1880s-1920s 3.3 1940s 3.4 1950s 3.5 1970s 3.6 1990s 4 People and culture 4.1 Population 4.2 Demographics 5 City of Diomede 5.1 Electricity 5.2 Water and disposal 5.3 Education 5.4 Health care and emergency services 6 Economy 6.1 Employment 6.2 Taxes 7 Transportation 7.1 History 7.2 Internal transport 7.3 External transport 7.3.1 Helicopter 7.3.2 Airplane 7.3.3 Boat 7.4 Improvements for the transportation 7.4.1 Air and water 7.4.2 Bridge or tunnel 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Geography

Little Diomede Island is located about 40 km (25 mi) west from the mainland Alaska, US in the middle of the Bering Strait. It is only 1 km (0.6 mi) apart from the International Date Line and about 4 km (2.4 mi) from the Russian island of Big Diomede. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Little Diomede Island, which is entirely incorporated into the city, has a total area of 7.356 km² (2.84 square miles), all of it land.

The City of Diomede is located on the island's western corner at 65°45′35″N, 168°55′39″W (65.759836, -168.927592).^[3]

[edit] Geology

The Little Diomede island is believed to be a Tuya type mountain and remains from the Bering land bridge (also known as Beringia). The location of the city is the only area which does not have near-vertical cliffs to the water. Behind the city and around the entire island rocky slopes rises at about 40° up to the relatively flattened top in 350-363 m. The island has very scant vegetation and no trees nor shrubs.

[edit] History

The current location of the city, which is believed to be at least 3,000 years old by some archaeologists,^[4] was originally a spring hunting campsite and the early explorers from the west found the eskimos at Diomede had an advanced culture including their elaborate whale hunting ceremonies.^[5] Trading was made with both continents.

[edit] 1648-1867

The first non-native to reach the Diomede Islands was a Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. But it was a Danish navigator Vitus Bering who re-discovered the islands on August 16, 1728 and named the islands after martyr St. Diomede who was celebrated in Russian Orthodox Church on that date.

United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 which included the Little Diomede. The new boundary was drawn between the two Diomede Islands and the Big Diomede was left to Russia.

[edit] 1880s-1920s

According to traveler John Muir, on his visit to Diomede Islands in 1880's they found the natives eager to trade away everything they had. The village was perched on the steep rocky slope of the mountain which drop at once sheer into deep water. The huts were mostly built of stone with skin roofs. They looked like mere stoneheaps, black dots on the snow at a distance, with whalebone posts set up and framed at the top to lay their canoes beyond the dogs that would otherwise eat them.^[6]

During the Nome gold rush at the turn of the 19th century Diomede villagers traveled to Nome along with the gold seekers, even though Nome was not a native village. People from Diomede arrived in Umiaks and stayed in Nome for the summer, trading and gathering items before they returned to their isolated village.^[7]

[edit] 1940s

According to Arthur Ahkinga, who lived in the Little Diomede island in turn of the 1940's, the Eskimos on the island made their living by hunting and carving ivory which they traded or sold. Fish they caught were bullheads, tomcods, bluecods and few others, although the fishing was not so common. During the winter time they used fur parkas and skin mukluks made out of hunted animals to protect themselves from cold and wind. Recreations were skating, snowshoeing, hand ball, football and Eskimo dancing. After dark, people spent the rest of the evening telling jokes and old-time stories. In summer time they travelled with skin boats equipped with outboard motors to either Siberia or Wales. The winter travel was limited to the neighboring Big Diomede due to weather conditions. Between July and October half the population went to Nome for selling their carving and skin sewing and trading for supplies.^[8]

Despite being separated by the new border after the Alaska purchase in 1867, Big Diomede had been home to families now living on Little Diomede and the people living in American side of the border were very close relatives to those living on the Russian side. The communities on both islands were separated by politics, but connected by family kinships. Despite being officially forbidden, the Eskimos from both islands did occasional visits to their neighbors and sometimes to the International Date Line under the cover of fog to meet their relatives and exchanging small gifts. The local schoolteachers in Little Diomede counted that 178 people from Big Diomede and the Siberian mainland visited the island only within 6 months between January and July in 1944.^[9]

At the beginning of the Cold War in late 1940's the Big Diomede became a Russian military base and all its native residents were removed to the mainland Russia.^[10] When people from Little Diomede went too close to the Russian side or tried to visit their relatives on the neighboring island during the World War II, they were taken captive. According to one of the survivors Oscar Ahkinga, after 52 days of internment and interrogation, the eskimos were banished and told not to come back.^[11]

[edit] 1950s

The school year 1953-1954 in Little Diomede Island was adapted to better serve the local needs. The teaching took place through the holidays and also some weekends to complete the 180 days of class time before the walrus migration started in the spring. The annual walrus hunt meant a major supply and income possibilities for the villagers and everybodys help was needed. The primary language at the time was Inupiat and beginning students were also taught English. The only way of communication with the outside world was by amateur radio. The non-existing health care was somewhat upgraded with a basic medication knowledge by seasonal teachers.^[12]

[edit] 1970s

During the centuries the Little Diomede was gradually inhabited as a permanent settlement ^[13] and the entire island was incorporated into the city in 1970.^[14]

[edit] 1990s

After the Cold War ended in the early 1990's an interest of reuniting with families across the Bering Strait revived. In 1994 the people in Little Diomede island collected cash and groceries while local dancers practiced almost every night. The islanders prepared for a visit of more than one hundred friends and relatives from Siberia and they wanted to be hospitable and generous hosts, but sadly many of the residents of Little Diomede never saw their relatives again.^[15]

[edit] People and culture

[edit] Population

Population in the island is primarily Inalikmiut ^[16] (Inupiat) Eskimo origin who have lived in the area for many generations. The City of Diomede is within Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States and at the 2000 census the population was 146.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census ^[17] of 2000, there were 146 people, 43 households, and 31 families residing in the city. The population density was 51.4 people per square mile (19.8/km²). There were 47 housing units at an average density of 16.5/sq mi (6.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 6.16% White, 92.47% Native American, and 1.37% from two or more races.

There were 43 households out of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 20.9% were married couples living together, 32.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 18.6% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40 and the average family size was 4.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 43.8% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 114.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 121.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $24,583. Males had a median income of $41,250 versus $26,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,944. There were 41.4% of families and 35.4% of the population living below the poverty line, including 33.8% of under eighteens and 44.4% of those over 64.

[edit] City of Diomede

The location of the city is believed to be at least 3,000 year old hunting campsite. In late 1800's travelers reported people living in huts made out of rocks and with skin roof. (see History).

The first square building in the island was a small Catholic church, which was planned by father Lafortune in 1935 and build by Thomas Cunningham during his residency in the island between 1936 and 1947. It was built from donated lumber from Nome. The next square building in the island was a one-room school house,^[18] which also served as a home for the teacher's family. A new larger church building built by Thomas Carlin and Ignatius Jakes was completed on March 3, 1979.

Today there are about 30 buildings ^[19] in the island including the residential housing which were mainly built in 1970's and 1980's. Washeteria has been built to serve the community with a laundromat and showers.^[20] Clinic for basic health care has been included within the washeteria. The island also has a school library, heliport and a satellite dish for TV, telephone, fax and internet. There is no bank nor restaurant and the only store in the island has its supplies mainly limited to some food, beverage, clothing, firearms, ammunition and fuel. Snacks, clothing, diapers and other items are often ordered from Anchorage Walmart and Kmart stores by mail or parcel.^[21] Like in many other eskimo villages, importation and sale of alcohol is prohibited.

[edit] Electricity

An electric system was built to the island in the 1970's ^[22] and electricity is provided by a city operated Diomede Joint Utilities. They provide houses and other facilities with electricity produced by diesel generators. Diesel fuel is stored in large tanks which are placed at the furthest possible location from the housing. While the electric facility owns the largest fuel tank measuring 300m³ (80,000 gallon), the school and the village council store both own tanks measuring about 155m³ (41,000 gallon) each.^[23] (Some sources ^[24] suggests the school has upgraded its fuel storage to two 325m³ (85,000 gallon) tanks). Gasoline and propane has also being used for fuel.

[edit] Water and disposal

Water for winter use is drawn from a mountain spring, then treated and stored in 1650m³ (434,000 gallon) storage tank. Because the permafrost does not allow pipelines being installed under ground, residents carry water from the tank. Even with a tank this size, the water supply usually runs out by March, washeteria is closed and residents must melt their drinking water from snow and ice.

Funds for improving the water system have been requested both by the city and the school. Having a separate tank for the school would decrease the usage of city water and would also serve as a backup water supply for the whole city. Funds are also requested for refuse collection improvements and for incinerator, because the ground conditions on the island limits waste disposal to burning combustibles and disposing everything else on the ice. Honeybuckets and privies are used except in the washeteria and clinic which are served by a septic system.^[25]

[edit] Education

Being probably the most isolated school in US, the Diomede School has grades from Pre-K through 12 and approximately 40 students and 5 teachers. The island's only school is served by the Bering Strait School District.

[edit] Health care and emergency services

There is no hospital on the island and emergency services are limited due to the remoteness of the island. A City Council owned clinic operates in the washeteria building providing basic health care.

While other emergency services are provided by volunteers and health aide, the fire and rescue service is provided by Diomede Volunteer Fire Department and First Responders.^[26] In such small community practically anybody will help in case of an emergency. In case of a major health emergency, patients are airlifted to the mainland hospital in Nome, weather permitting.^[27] Nome State Trooper, the closest law enforcement officials are in mainland, Alaska.

Frozen ground and lack of soil on the rocky island also prevents digging graves, but rocks are piled on top of the burial sites instead.^[28]

[edit] Economy

[edit] Employment

The employment on the island is mostly limited to the city, post office and school. There have been few seasonal jobs such as mining and construction, but recently they have been in decline. The Diomede people are excellent ivory carvers and the city serves as a wholesale agent for the ivory.^[29] Ivory works are mainly sold in mainland Alaska in Fairbanks and Anchorage, but can occationally be found also at online auction sites^[30]. They also hunt whales during the spring from openings in the sea ice. The whaling practises were unsuccessful or was not pursued for decades in the middle to late 20th century until 1999 it became successful again.^[31]

[edit] Taxes

Sales tax is 3%, ^[32] but there are no state nor property taxes in the island. Every citizen gets their annual Alaska Permanent Fund paycheck. The Little Diomede natives are allowed to pay their taxes to the Internal Revenue Service in ivory collected from walrus hunts, being the only people in the United States that are allowed to pay taxes with something besides U.S. currency.^[33]

[edit] Transportation

[edit] History

In early 1940's one of the Little Diomede villagers wrote "No airplane comes to Diomede except for some very special reason, during the winter. The MS North Star brings groceries for the people on the island from Nome. At the same time she unloads freight for the school teachers. The Coast Guard cutter Northland comes in twice during the summer to look after the natives".^[34]

[edit] Internal transport

There are no roads, highways, railroads nor internal waterways on the island except few rocky paths within the City of Diomede between the buildings to walk on.^[35] On the small island with total land area of only 7.4 km² (2.8 sq mi) only ways to get from place to place is by foot, skis or snowmobile. Because all other parts of the island remains uninhabited excluding the city no other internal transport systems are constructed.

[edit] External transport

Due to the remoteness and a severe weather, the Little Diomede Island is very difficult and risky to access from the outside world. An average of 6-8 m/s (12-15 knot) winds with gusts up to 25-35 m/s (48-68 knot) and a prevalent fog and cloudy sky limits the transportation to its minimum. Even the medical evacuation from such location has its own difficulties.

Mail has been delivered to the island by helicopter since 1982 and is nowadays delivered once a week. The postal contract is one of the oldest in the nation, the only one that uses helicopters for delivering mail and with a cost of over $300,000 annually is the most expensive in Alaska.^[36]

An annual delivery of goods and supplies is made by barge during the summer which usually is the only cargo delivered during the year. When the supplies come all the men rush down and pull them off and carry them up.^[37] All other access to the island are the occasional visits by research teams, rare extreme tourists and other indian tribes visiting from the mainland Alaska.

Due to its location and weather conditions transportation to the island is very expensive. Having very few economic development opportunities and a tight budget, the city charges non-business visitors arriving by plane or boat a $50.00 fee.^[38]

When US Senator Ted Stevens arrived to the island in October 29th, 2002 for an overnight visit, he commented "I did not realize you were this remote". He arrived by a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter and it was a first time when the island was visited by a statewide elected official^[39].

[edit] Helicopter

Main access to the island at the moment is a helicopter. Until late 1990's a bow of a shipwrecked old barge serverd as a temporary landing platform, but today there is a heliport in Ignaluk (FAA ID: DM2) made by United States Marine Corps (USMC) in 2000 and owned by the State of Alaska, Department of Transportation. The concrete surfaced heliport measuring 20 m x 20 m (64 ft x 64 ft) is open to the public, has no control tower and being only about a one kilometer (0.6 miles) from the International Date Line and less than 4 km (2.4 miles) from the Big Diomede is the closest US heliport to Russia.

[edit] Airplane

Currently there are no airports or runways in the Little Diomede Island because of the island's rocky, steep slopes. During the winter months a temporary ice runway is cleared on top of the ice just off of the coast of Ignaluk. Some bush pilots have occasionally landed on the top of the tuya which is rocky, but somewhat flat surface during snowy winter. Only way to land with an airplane during the few summer months is on water with a float plane. All types of landings on the island with an airplane are very rare due to high risk and severe weather. There are some thoughts and studies if a runway should be built to the island.

[edit] Boat

There is no actual port in the Little Diomede Island and a surrounding thick arctic ice limits the boat access to the island to only a few summer months. High waves and huge blocks of ice in the area makes navigation very risky and difficult. Landing by boat is also difficult and dangerous because of the rocky shoreline of the Little Diomede Island. The barge delivering supplies once a year and occasional other water crafts usually stays offshore due to conditions of the shoreline.

[edit] Improvements for the transportation

There have been studies of improving the transportation system within and out of the island. Proposals and studies vary between a port, runway and the Intercontinental Tunnel or Bridge. According to the National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP)^[40] a difficult and limited access to the island has brought an economic pressure to the community and the tribal council has already voted to begin planning for relocation of the community to the mainland if the access and the housing conditions are not improved. No plans of constructing a port, airport, runway, tunnel or bridge have been put to action at the moment. According to 2006 documentation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ^[41] however, a better access to the island will raise issues with its dedicated nature, environment and local traditions and also impact the identity of the Inupiat eskimo community by increasing the social contacts with the outsiders.

[edit] Air and water

There have been multiple studies of navigation improvements, feasibility study of constructing of an airport or runway to the island and studies of any multi-use possibilities of the port and the airport projects as a storm damage prevention.

[edit] Bridge or tunnel

There have been thoughts and proposals about constructing an intercontinental bridge or tunnel between the mainland Alaska, USA and mainland Siberia, Russia, which in some proposals is tied to the possibilities of closing the 1,300 km gap in railroad between Alaska and British Columbia. An envisoned service access to one or both Diomede Islands from such bridge or tunnel would dramatically improve transportation to the Little Diomede and also make the access safer. Despite of dating back as far as early 1800's, most of these proposals have been just visions of individual persons or groups and are not adopted to a governmental study by either USA nor Russia at the moment.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

City of Diomede

• Diomede Community Page
• Census 2000 information
• Northwest Arctic Subarea Contingency Plan
  (Includes information about the City of Diomede on pages 17-18)
• Alaska Community Database / Community Information Database (Select Diomede and click Get Summary)

Community, Utilities and Research

• Zoomable satellite image of the island (Arrow pointing to the city)
• Diomede School Website
• Diomede School Online Student Newspaper
• The Molly Hootch case of Alaska A journal about high school establishment and improvements in the rural parts of Alaska
  Includes information about the process of getting the Diomede high school built
• Diomede Island Housing Improvement Program / Accomplishments and Coordination of Funds (2004)
• The Bering Strait Arctic Environmental Observatory
• Live Cam from Diomede local School Looking west across the International Date Line towards Big Diomede Island.
  (Patience is required while image loads and is transmitted over satellite Internet connection)
• Current weather in Little Diomede
• Diomede historical pictures at Alaska's Digital Archives

Transportation

• FAA information about Diomede Heliport, Alaska (DM2)
• FAA aeronautical chart from the area

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Nome Census Area, Alaska Cities Brevig Mission | Diomede | Elim | Gambell | Golovin | Koyuk | Nome | Savoonga | Shaktoolik | Shishmaref | St. Michael | Stebbins | Teller | Unalakleet | Wales | White Mountain CDP Port Clarence

v • d • e Chukchi Sea Islands Big Diomede, Russia  • Chamisso Island  • Diomede Islands  • Herald Island  • Idlidlya Island  • Karkarpko Island  • Kolyuchin Island  • Kosa Dvukh Pilotov  • Little Diomede, US  • Puffin Island  • Serykh Gusey Islands  • Wrangel Island  • Yuzhnyy Island