THE PEOPLE OF CHENEGA

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes       taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
       – Anne Bradstreet, 1612-1672

The people of Chenega trace their roots to the South Central area of Alaska and specifically to the region of Prince William Sound. They are part of the Aleut/Eskimo family and the Alutiiq sub-culture of that family. They speak a dialect of Allutiiq called Suqcestun.

Chenega residents have certainly experienced their share of adversity. They have not only survived, but prospered. Their tidy village on the southern tip of Chenega Island was home for centuries. The rich waters of Prince William Sound provided well for the people.

These same waters, however, brought many changes. The first was the arrival of foreigners in sailing ships. In 1741 Vitus Bering, the Russian explorer, sailed into Prince William Sound. He stayed near Chenega Island for a time while exploring the area. What Bering thought of the Alutiiq village is not known. We do know that Lord Alexander Baranof, a Russian trader, thought well enough of the villagers to marry one of their Own, Anna of Chenega.

While Lord Baranof most certainly appreciated Anna, he was shrewd enough to appreciate the social and financial gains of his marriage. The village of Chenega fostered good relations and set the groundwork for profitable trade in the future when it agreed to the marriage.

The waters of Prince William Sound brought other transformations to the village. The Russian Orthodox religion, practiced by the traders and explorers who came in contact with the village, was eventually adopted by the people. It is this faith that sustained many of the villagers in years to come.

Perhaps the most difficult period in the history of the Chenega people occurred in more recent times. The island village was destroyed by a tsunami created by the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. Centuries of history were washed away, along with the Chenega village. The loss of life was catastrophic. One third of the people perished. With the village gone, the Chenega people dispersed to other parts of Alaska and Outside.

For twenty years the tides of Prince William Sound came and went without seeing a new home for the Chenega people.

In 1984, however, a group of Villagers established the village of Chenega Bay on Evan’s Island. Today, the village of Chenega Bay prospers. There is a newly built and operating medical Clinic –”the Father Nickolas Kompkoff Clinic”; a beautiful Orthodox Church, a school, a community hall, a subsistence center, an airport and small harbor. A system of generators and fuel tanks keeps the residents in constant supply of power. A master plan for the continued development of the village guides efforts to secure grants and chart necessary improvements. The community has a sophisticated response system for oil spills used by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. There is also a ferry dock used by the State of Alaska ferry system as part of the Alaska Marine Highway.

The oil spill response system that is now in place will hopefully never be needed. It is a safeguard for the village and the beautiful waters of Prince William Sound. Tragically, such a system was not in place in 1989, when the oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, spilled millions of gallons of oil into the water. The tides carried the black oily substance to the beaches of the newly established Chenega Bay village. The damage to the surrounding habitats was crippling. For the villagers who rely on subsistence fishing and hunting, the effects were devastating