Shungnak

Shungnak is represented on the NANA Regional Corporation Board of Directors by Linda Lee and Michael Tickett.

LOCATION
Shungnak, or Issingnak in Inupiaq, is located on a bluff rising above the west bank of the Kobuk River, about 10 miles downstream from the village of Kobuk and 150 air miles east of Kotzebue.

HISTORY
Residents of Kobuk who migrated downstream along the winding Kobuk River to escape massive flooding established Shungnak in the 1920s. The new village was originally named Kochuk but its name was later changed to a derivative of the Inupiaq word for jade, a gemstone found extensively in the surrounding hills. The city government was incorporated in 1967. 

THE PEOPLE
Shungnak is a traditional Inupiat village based on a subsistence way of life. Residents depend on natural food sources including moose, caribou, berries, whitefish, sheefish and ducks. The 1970 census recorded 165 individuals living in Shungank. By 2000 its population had increased 64 percent to 256. There are currently about 270 Shungnak residents, 95 percent of whom are Inupiaq. 

GOVERNMENT
Shungnak has a mayor-council form of government, incorporated under the laws of the State of Alaska. It is one of the villages of the Northwest Arctic Borough. 

CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY

Shungnak is located a transitional climate zone. Temperatures average 10 degrees below zero to 15 degrees above Fahrenheit in the winter and 40 to 65 degrees during summer. Temperature extremes have been recorded from 60 degrees below zero to 90 degrees above. Snowfall averages 80 inches per year, rainfall 16 inches. The Kobuk River is navigable from the end of May to mid-October. Shungnak’s topography consists of river highlands with spruce and birch trees.

TRANSPORTATION SERVICES AND FACILITIES

Air – There is a state-owned, 4,000’ long by 60’ wide gravel airstrip lined with beacon lights in Shungnak. Flying weather is best in late winter and early spring, worst in late summer and fall. Scheduled regional passenger air carriers fly back and forth from daily Shungnak to Kotzebue and Kobuk and weekly to Ambler. A round-trip ticket from Shungnak to Kotzebue costs around $395, Kobuk $120 and Ambler $140.

Land - Residents travel overland by all-terrain vehicle, snowmachine and dog sleds, depending on the season. A dirt road network extends throughout the village and connects to a trail system paralleling the Kobuk River that is used for hunting and inter-village travel.

Water/Marine
Small boats are used on the Kobuk River for inter-village travel, cargo transport and subsistence activities.

LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES

  The City of Shungnak provides the following services: 

Water– The public water supply in Shungnak is drawn from a 200,000-gallon steel storage tank. The reservoir is intermittently filled with water from the Kobuk River via 1,110’ of buried arctic pipe. The storage tank and pump house are located atop the river bluff and pump water to more than 50 nearby houses. The great majority of homes in Shungnak have running water, as do the school, the health clinic and the community building.

Sewer– Shungnak has 4,500 feet of six-inch underground gravity sewer lines connected to most homes and facilities by four-inch service lines. A sewer mainline drains sewage to small lake one-half mile northwest of the city. A dike surrounds the lake, creating a 4-million gallon waste stabilization lagoon. Effluent is chlorinated prior to discharge.

Solid Waste Disposal– A new city landfill was completed in recent years. It’s maintained with a trailer and full-tracked tractor.

Public Safety– Shungnak has a Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) employed by Maniilaq Association. The village has the use of a Paktrak fire vehicle for fire protection.

OTHER SERVICES AND UTILITIES

Community Facilities– Shungnak has two stores, a pool hall, a National Guard Armory (defunct), a city office building, a public safety building, a post office, a community building and a village health clinic, plus three churches: Friends, Baptist and Seventh-Day Adventist.

Health Services– Operated by Maniilaq Association, the Shungnak health clinic is staffed by two certified health aides who are on call 24 hours a day. Routine medical serves are provided daily from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Health aides and patients have direct access to the Maniilaq Health Center in Kotzebue, which offers doctor consults via teleconferencing. Maniilaq Association transports emergency patients to Kotzebue via its own Medivac plane.

Electricity– The Alaska Village Electric Co-Op provides electricity to Shungnak via diesel generations with a peak capacity of 1,248 killowats. Monthly residential rates factoring in the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) subsidy are 25 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 1-500 kWh, 57 cents per kilowatt-hour for 501-700 kWh per month and 47 cents per kilowatt-hour for every kWh per month over 700. Small commercial rates are 57 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 1-700 kWh per month and 47 cents per kilowatt-hour for every kWh per month over 700.

Telecommunications– Kotzebue-based OTZ Telephone Cooperative provides in-state telephone service to Shungnak residents and businesses, and long-distance service is provided through a combination of AT&T, Anchorage-based GCI and Kotzebue-based OTZ Telephone. Internet service is provided through Inutek.net, a cooperative effort between OTZ, Maniilaq Association and Anchorage-based GCI Communications.

SCHOOLS
 The Shungnak School, a combined elementary, middle and high school, educates about 75 students per year from pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. The school employs 12 teachers. It has five classrooms, a lecture hall, a gymnasium, a library and a woodshop.

Post-secondary education is available via online classes provided by Chukchi Campus, a rural division of the University of Alaska.

MEDIA
Shungnak residents receive KOTZ-AM, a public radio station broadcast from Kotzebue, and the Arctic Sounder, a regional newspaper. The City of Shungnak provides cable television.

EMPLOYMENT/ECONOMY
About 50 residents work year-round jobs for the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, the City of Shungnak, Maniilaq Association, two private stores and a lodge that caters to sportsmen and visitors to Gates of the Arctic National Park.  The Bureau of Land Management offers seasonal firefighting employment to more than 30 residents every year for seasonal firefighting. Shungnak also has a strong arts and crafts industry; residents make and sell finely crafted baskets, masks, mukluks, parkas, hats, and mittens.

HOUSING
There are roughly 55 occupied residential structures in Shungnak, plus a around 10 unoccupied dwellings. The average family household size is 4.5 persons. The median occupied home value is $95,000. The median rent is $530. The Northwest Inupiat Housing Authority, based in Kotzebue, provides construction services based on HUD contracts.