Chignik Bay is a small remote fishing village tucked away on the wet, wind swept chilly coast of Alaska, it sits between layers of old Scandinavian ways and Russian Aleut traditions, which is torn up against modern glories. Chignik is located at Anchorage Bay on the south side of the Alaska Peninsula roughly 450 miles southwest of Anchorage and 250 miles southwest of Kodiak Island.

In the winter, when time never ends, the browns and tans of the alder twigs and dead grass are the only colors you see. Summer is entirely different, with clean and clear waterfalls gushing straight down the mountain. The ocean beach is the place to play when the tide is out. The aroma of salt air and kelp tickle your nose. The jagged mountains and rolling green hills harbor strong winds and constant moisture. The village pulses in May, June, July and August. This is the red salmon season. Then at the peak of fall, a drastic silence falls upon the village. People tend to leave this quiet little community right after they harvest their share of the red salmon. They migrate to places that offer more job opportunities and social flair.

The village has survived because of the canneries. *Quote from Alaska Department of Fish & Game Annual Reports 1-7 1949-1955 pg 24. *In 1878 two canneries packed 8,159 cases of salmon in Alaska thereby launching an industry that was destined to become the largest in the territory.

In 1896 the Hume Bros.& Hume Co., built a cannery on the eastern side of Anchorage Bay. By 1904 it was purchased by North Western Fisheries Co. Through the years this area would always be referred to as Norwestern by the old timers.

The cannery on the town side was built in 1910 by Columbia River Packers, purchased by Alaska Packers Association in 1941, the cannery burned in 1976, and was leased to SEA Alaska in 1977, Aleutian Dragon Fisheries purchased it in 1985, NorQuest purchased the cannery in 1998, and Trident Seafoods purchased it in 2004.

Trident Seafoods purchased Chignik Pride Fisheries at the old Norwestern side site in 2002.

Although Trident purchased NorQuest Seafoods in 2004 it is still being operated by and under the name NorQuest.

The water supply for the community of Chignik is supplied by Trident/NorQuest. The hydroelectric project at the cannery was originally constructed in 1947 when the new owners of the cannery, Alaska Packers Association, were granted a permit to build a timber dam on Indian Creek. According to the 1950 Building Record, the project was constructed over three years and the dam completed in 1948 and the pipeline constructed in 1949. Evidently, a turbine was placed in a small shed on the beach in 1948-49; however, the turbine is no longer present in that location, most likely because of the 1976 fire. Currently the turbine is located on the corner of the processing plant with the diesel generators.

Facilities and operation of the dam; it is 16.5 feet high and made of timber at the outlet of Upper Lake (a.k.a Indian Lake), creating a reservoir with a surface area of approximately 20.4 acres at the maximum reservoir elevation of 431 feet, a channel spillway, a 7,700-foot-long wood-stave and steel pipeline, a 60 kilowatt generating unit inside the fish plant.

Indian Lake also serves as a domestic water supply for the community of Chignik which taps into the pipeline and diverts water from the pipeline above the cannery.

Indian Creek is approximately 3.5 miles long and drains generally north-northwest from an elevation of 1,200 feet to sea level where it discharges into Anchorage Bay.

The Alaska Peninsula has experienced over 8,000 years of prehistoric occupation, but little evidence of it has come from the Chignik vicinity. At the time of Russian contact the boundary between Aleut and Yupik speakers was 30-50 miles west of Chignik, so the oldest archaeological evidence could reflect either culture. Little is known about the prehistory of Anchorage Bay, where modern Chignik is located.

In the late 1700's and early 1800's, Russian fur-traders sailed into the waters of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula, on to Kodiak and beyond. The pacific coast of the Alaska Peninsula appeared to be all but abandoned in 1871. When Russian domination evaporated after 1867, some communities in the Kodiak region fragmented and left to resettle distant areas that had been formerly depopulated.
The nearest such region to Anchorage Bay was about 25 miles southwest - Mitrofinia, which was occupied in the 1890's.

Several studies have been conducted to determine and locate cultural and archeological sites with the Chignik region and near the airport. A survey was conducted for the Chignik airport in 1976 and another in 1980. Then, the Alaska District of the Army Corp of Engineers contracted cultural resource professionals to perform a cultural resource assessment of hydropower projects in Alaska (Steele 1982) The Corps contracted another survey in 1984 and in 1996 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) recorded the site of Andersonville, a cluster of Native homes west of the cannery on the southwest side of Anchorage Bay.

A 1976 survey conducted in the Chignik region for the Chignik airport located one site near the proposed airport airstrip (Reger and Dixon 1977). This archeological survey found a large site affiliated with archeological traditions dating back 4,000 years.

A 1979 building inventory of the cannery indicated 56 facilities of possible historic significance. By 2004, five of these buildings had been destroyed or burned by fire. The facility, which began operation in 1910, is evidently the oldest continuously used fish processing facility in Alaska and is significant at the local level due to its association with a broad trend or pattern of events important to Alaska and Chignik history. The cannery and the fishing industry it reflects have been the central element in the lives of Chignik villages for the last 94 years.

Chignik incorporated and became a second class city in 1983. Prior to this the Chignik Village council was the only active local government. With the incorporation of second class status a waterline and sewer line were installed for the first time. Before these installations homes were on septic tanks and a waterline fed from the Alaska Packers cannery. Not all homes had running water. During the winter months most lines would freeze due to the fact the small water pipe used back then was barely buried under ground. Since the installation of the then new water and sewer lines back in 1983 there are no more freeze ups during the winter.

Many residents hold dual residency in either Kodiak or Anchorage, migrating to the villages for the summer salmon season. This pattern is in part due to the lack of employment. In the past, it was due to lack of further education and employment within the village. Now with the school system offering education up to the 12th grade, some families choose to stay.

There are currently 60 houses in Chignik, either single family, HUD or apartments. Of these 60 only 30 are occupied. There are a few HUD houses vacant and there are some abandoned houses. (the abandoned houses have not been counted in this particular survey of homes)

Besides fishing there are few other jobs in the community. The City of Chignik employs six, the post office employs two, the school employs five, BBNA four through the Village Tribal office, Clinic two through BBAHC. The cannery usually keeps a watchman on the property year around. Currently four people at Trident/NorQuest.

Currently the City of Chignik has contracted with Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to replace the water and sewer systems in Chignik. They have hired about 12 laborers/operators in 2004.

During the summer months more people arrive with the fishing season. A Bed & Breakfast was just opened in the summer of 2004. A bakery is also located in Chignik but operates only during the fishing season. The Trident Cannery opens a small general store during the summer months, and closes in the fall for the winter. The cannery store is open to the public.

Chignik's population may be few... these hearty souls hang on to traditional village values that city living cannot extract. These people are strong and proud. Quality way of life is their way of life. Fishing will always be a part of their lives.

Photo By: TJ Aklin