Beaver Village is located on the north bank of the Yukon River, approximately 60 air miles southwest of Fort Yukon and 110 miles north of Fairbanks and is home to predominantly mixed Gwitchin/Koyukuk Athabascan and Inupiat Eskimo.
Official Tribal Name: Beaver Village
Address: P.O. Box 24029, Beaver, AK 99724
Phone: 907-628-6126
Fax:
Email: fsrdp1@hotmail.com
Official Website:
Recognition Status: Federally Recognized
Pronunciation: BEE-vur
Alaskan Ethnic Group:
Alaskan Native Culture: Gwitchin Athabascan, Koyukuk Athabascan, and Inupiat Eskimo
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Alaska Native Regional Corporation: Doyon, Limited
Alaska Village Corporation: Beaver Kwit’chin Corporation
Alaska Native Association: Tanana Chiefs Conference
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Location:
Beaver is located on the north bank of the Yukon River, approximately 60 air miles southwest of Fort Yukon and 110 miles north of Fairbanks. It lies in the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
Village History:
Gold discoveries in the Chandalar region in 1907 led to the founding of Beaver. It was established as the Yukon River terminus for miners heading north to the gold fields.
The Alaska Road Commission built a trail from Beaver north to Caro on the Chandalar River around 1907, and three freight companies operated on the trail, commonly known as Government Road.
In 1910, Thomas Carter and H.E. Ashelby established a store at Beaver. In 1911, about the time the gold rush was over, Frank Yasuda, a Japanese immigrant who had traded at Point Barrow and prospected in the Brooks Range, arrived with a group of Eskimos and became a partner in the trading post. They served the remaining mines in the region, supplied riverboats with firewood, and traded with Eskimo and Indian fur trappers.
A post office was established in 1913, and a second trading post opened in the early 1920s. The first Beaver school opened in 1928, and an airstrip was built in the 1930s.
Beaver’s population remained stable from 1950 through the 1970s. In 1974, the village council purchased the local store and set it up as a cooperative, with villagers holding shares of stock.
The People:
As of 2012, the population was 87.
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Climate and Topography:
Beaver has a continental subarctic climate characterized by seasonal extreme temperatures. The average high temperature during July ranges from 65 to 72 °F. The average low temperature during January is well below zero. Extended periods of -50 to -60 °F are common. Extreme temperatures ranging from a low of -70 to a high of 90 °F have been measured.
Precipitation averages 6.5 inches. The average annual snowfall is 43.4 inches. The Yukon River is ice-free from mid-June to mid-October.
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