Kotzebue
Description
Kotzebue /ˈkoʊtsʌˌbjuː/ or Kikiktagruk is a city in the borough seat of Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. The population of the village was 3,201 as of the 2010 census. Kotzebue is the largest city in the Northwest Arctic Borough.
History
There is archaeological evidence that Inupiat people have lived at Kotzebue since at least the 15th century. Owing to its location and relative size, Kotzebue served as a trading and gathering center for the various communities in the region. The Noatak, Selawik and Kobuk Rivers drain into the Kotzebue Sound near Kotzebue to form a center for transportation to points inland. In addition to people from interior villages, inhabitants of the Russian Far East came to trade at Kotzebue. Furs, seal-oil, hides, rifles, ammunition, and seal skins were some of the items traded. People also gathered for competitions like the current World Eskimo Indian Olympics. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, gold seekers, and missionaries the trading center expanded.
Kotzebue was originally known as Qikiqtaġruk, which means "big island" in Iñupiatun, the language of the Iñupiat. Kotzebue gets its name from the Kotzebue Sound, which was named after Otto von Kotzebue, a Baltic German who explored the sound while searching for the Northwest Passage in the service of Russia in 1818.
19th century
Reindeer herding was introduced in the area in 1897. Although Alaska had caribou, the wild form of reindeer, the domesticated reindeer were brought to Alaska from Asia.
A United States post office was established in 1899.
20th and 21st century
Kotzebue was a filming location for the 1991 film Salmonberries.
On September 2, 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama gave a speech on Climate Change, in Kotzebue, becoming the first sitting president to visit a site north of the Arctic Circle.
Geography
Kotzebue lies on a gravel spit at the end of the Baldwin Peninsula in the Kotzebue Sound. It is located at 66°53′50″N 162°35′8″W / 66.89722°N 162.58556°W / 66.89722; -162.58556 (66.897192, −162.585444), approximately 30 miles (48 km) from Noatak, Kiana, and other nearby smaller villages. It is 33 miles (53 km) north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska's western coast.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 28.7 square miles (74 km2), of which 27.0 square miles (70 km2) is land, and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2), or 5.76%, is water.
Kotzebue is home to the NANA Regional Corporation, one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of Alaska Native land claims.
Kotzebue is a gateway to Kobuk Valley National Park and other natural attractions of northern Alaska. A Northwest Arctic Heritage Center is located in the town to acclimate National Park Service travelers. Nearby Selawik National Wildlife Refuge also maintains office space in the town.