Today, Dec. 31, marks the end of 2024. Here’s a look at some highlights of the nearly 500 stories reported on by KYUK this year.
January
Early in the year, Yup’ik artist and educator Qukailnguq Golga Oscar was hired as the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus (KuC)’s Native Arts coordinator. Mid-January, he kicked off a community workshop project with a Yup’ik headdress-making tutorial.
2024 Slaviq celebrations in Kwethluk faced challenges when the village’s main grocery store bore empty shelves due to shipping delays.
The state called off the upper Kuskowim River winter moose hunt due to a 2023 decline in moose population in the McGrath area. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) opened its three-story Qavartarvik customer lodge, quadrupling capacity to house medical travelers across the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta with 109 hotel-like rooms.
Melting permafrost continued to endanger Nunapitchuk’s future. The village was supported by the Alaska Institute for Justice to guide future relocation efforts.
While unusually warm and windy weather resulted in the postponement of the Bogus Creek 150, the Kuskokwim 300 (K300) Sled Dog Race kicked off as planned and in chilly conditions. Bethel Musher Pete Kaiser claimed his eighth K300 victory.
February
Only days after K300 dog teams returned to Bethel from Aniak, the Kuskokwim Ice Road officially opened between the lower and middle river hub communities. Stretching more than 200 total miles, crews had their work cut out for them, contending with radical temperature fluctuations and intermittent snow storms in the weeks that followed.
All that snow made for a much slower Bogus Creek 150 sled dog race, but this didn’t stop Kwethluk phenom Raymond Alexie from defending his title and proving he was still a threat after his unfortunate K300 scratch.
The logistical challenges of winter in Western Alaska were on full display when the United
States Coast Guard took over a weekslong cleanup of a diesel spill in the coastal village of Kwigillingok.
In the relocation community of Mertarvik, located on Nelson Island, a power generator failure damaged critical infrastructure and brought an alphabet soup of responding agencies to restore basic services, an all too common pattern in remote communities.
In February, the dual themes of conservation and development were at play as communities across the region came out in strong opposition to opening up 28 million acres of federal lands to potential development.
At the same time, tribal-private partnerships with hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding firmed plans to unspool fiber optic cables across the region and connect up the region like never before.
At the end of the month, students from across the sprawling Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) descended on Bethel for a science fair to grow bacteria, bake cakes, and blast off rockets.
March
At the start of March, mushers with Bethel roots – Pete Kaiser and Jessica Klejka – hit the Iditarod trail. Kaiser went on to place ninth. And Pamyua’s Phillip Blanchett hit the silver screen in HBO’s True Detective: Night Country.
Residents from around the region descended on the Bethel Regional High School (BRHS) Warrior Dome for the annual Coastal Conference Basketball Championships. In the end, the Napaskiak girls and Kipnuk boys ended up on top, punching tickets to state.
Record snowfalls in March weighed on the Kuskokwim Ice Road, prompting closures and rerouting. Winter weather also weighed on Sleetmute’s school, which has languished on the state’s capital improvements list for over a decade. And in Newtok and Mertarvik, power issues closed schools for over a week. In Bethel, the wintry weather brought out massive icicles.
With the annual Cama-i dance festival around the corner, Kasigluk’s boisterous yuraq group practiced for the three days of shows. The festival honored two living treasures and two dedications, the most in many years. It was also the first appearance of Bethel’s Filipino dance group.
At the end of the month, Bethel opened a historic new supportive housing project aimed at helping chronically unhoused residents gain stability.
April
Students from across the Y-K Delta gathered in the BRHS gymnasium to compete in the Native Youth Olympics invitational, showcasing skills in 11 traditional-inspired competitions, including the two-foot high kick and the seal hop.
Also in early April, BRHS students walked out of class to oppose Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a proposed increase in education funding.
Technicians laid the first miles of fiber optic cable for Western Alaska’s AIRRAQ broadband internet network. The installation comes in partnership between telecommunications provider GCI and Bethel Native Corporation, and is set to complete in 2027, but could bring some households high speed internet as early as January 2025.
In Bethel, local tax was added on non-tobacco nicotine products such as vapes in an effort to curb their use by teenagers and children.
The Federal Subsistence Board added four coastal communities to the Kuskokwim moose hunt and extended the season in certain areas.
The Y-K Delta felt gusts of wind that came close to breaking a 45-year record, and the region was shaken by a rare 4.1 magnitude earthquake.
And toward the end of the month, breakup returned to the Y-K Delta with the first reports of the Kuskokwim’s breakup in the upper-river village of Nikolai.
May
In May, communities prepared for the worst as the mighty Kuskokwim broke up and became a river of giant ice pans. On May 8, the ice in front of Bethel also broke, but it was a woman from Aniak that ultimately nabbed the $21,747.50 jackpot.
Flood watches worked their way downriver with the breakup front, sparing Aniak, Kalskag, and Tuluksak. But Kwethluk, Bethel, and other downriver communities weren’t so lucky. A 10-mile ice jam held high waters in place, damaged infrastructure in Kwethluk, and forced residents of Bethel’s Alligator Acres neighborhood into canoes and skiffs to run errands.
During the flooding, there was also an outpouring of support for victims of violence and injustice across the region with the March for Justice held in conjunction with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.
The Nelson Island community of Mertarvik continued to see challenges as more people made their way from the soon to be shuttered community of Newtok just upriver. An influx of residents overwhelmed a wastewater treatment system set up for the community, creating a public health risk at the temporary school.
Infrastructure issues also popped up elsewhere in May with a generator failure in Akiak that caught the community off guard. It led to a loss of subsistence foods, and plenty of questions about how to provide stable and reliable power for the village of roughly 450 people.
June
With the salmon season in full swing, Yukon River communities balanced conservation and survival during their fifth season of near-total fishing closures. Kuskokwim Bay communities expressed concerns about trawl vessels fishing in the region.
Four candidates filed to run to represent the Lower Kuskokwim in the Alaska State House, including incumbent Rep. Conrad "CJ" McCormick and the eventual winner, newcomer candidate Nellie Jimmie of Toksook Bay, heralding one of the most exciting local races in years.
Bethel’s Yuraq Bots robotics team took Y-K Delta culture to the national stage with a project focused on translating well-known yuraq songs.
Dozens of Bethel residents showed their colors at the annual Pride March.
And Bethel’s acting city manager resigned, leaving the town’s administration in the hands of longtime city clerk Lori Strickler.
June also saw the first wildfire of the season on the Y-K Delta, which burned itself out near Marshall. Quinhagak firefighters rallied without proper supplies to keep another tundra fire from threatening the archaeological dig site near town.
July
In July, Aniak’s tribe sued state and federal agencies for allegedly taking and withholding human remains from their airport site and not allowing the tribe to excavate the area.
Bethel’s new police chief, James Harris, had his first day on the job, and federal disaster relief applications opened for the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and Norton Sound for the 2020 and 2021 fishing seasons.
A new health clinic facility opened in Akiachak, and in Fairbanks, the reigning Miss Cama-i, Tatiana Taanka Korthius, won the title of 2024 Miss World Eskimo Indian Olympics.
Arctic air brought historically cold July temperatures to Bethel, with temperatures dropping into the 40s.
Three authors and translators dedicated to Yup’ik cultural preservation received awards from The Alaska Center for the Book. Marie Meade, Ann Fienup-Riordan, and Alice Rearden were honored for their contributions to literacy in Alaska, publishing books documenting traditional knowledge in Western Alaska.
And The Tundra Drums, a historic local paper, mysteriously resumed publishing online, but its content appeared to be stolen and rewritten by AI software.
August
Following a generator failure and a summer of intermittent services and serious hardship, Akiak restored municipal power. KYUK itself got an infrastructure upgrade when the big orange and white FM tower marking the center of Bethel came down after more than 50 years in service, replaced with a sleek 180-foot silver tower.
Another positive came when the federal government issued its final decision to maintain protections for 28 million acres of wilderness lands, a move in line with sentiments across the region.
Municipal elections also came into the fore in August when the state pursued felony election interference charges against the former mayor of the Yukon River community of Pilot Station.
The middle of the month brought a quick end to the summer vibes when a suite of Bering Sea storms pummelled the region. The widespread inundation of the lower Kuskokwim River caused plenty of minor damage. It also helped along the erosion representing a major threat for multiple communities along the river.
September
The first full month of the school year kicked off in September, with new horizons for the Lower Kuskokwim School District – a new superintendent on the job, and a new school building for the Yup’ik immersion school, Ayaprun Elitnaurvik. Student-athletes from around the region took on a new route at Bethel’s notorious sand pit race course, while others went magnet fishing in Brown’s Slough. School districts around the state made moves to explore new internet infrastructure, as fiber internet projects continued to unspool on the Y-K Delta.
Landmark Bethel store I.D. Variety closed after 45 years.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation distributed RSV immunizations to almost two-dozen villages – slashing infant cases of the respiratory illness.
A judge found that federal regulators failed to consider the full scope of the proposed Donlin Mine project in its permitting, placing a potential roadblock to its development. Other cases challenging the project are still pending.
October
On Oct. 1, Bethel Winter House — the community’s cold weather overnight shelter — opened for the season. The shelter provides two meals a day, showers, laundry services, and a warm place to sleep to those without a place to stay.
In Bethel’s municipal election, incumbent Rose “Sugar” Henderson was re-elected, and now serves as mayor. Newcomers Alicia Miner, Pamela Conrad, and WG Anaruk also gained seats on the council.
In athletics, the Bethel Regional High School Warriors boys cross country came in fourth place at state, tying their school record. The Lady Warriors cross country team took seventh. The Bethel Warriors wrestling team took third place at the Top Dog invitational in Nikiski.
And in another Y-K Delta victory, Daphne Nicholai of Oscarville received the Alaska Federation of Natives small business of the year award. Her Anchorage storefront, Blackbull Native Store, sells Native goods from iqmik to fry-bread.
Bethel postmaster Alan Murphy retired after 51 years of service and reflected on the importance of the U.S. Postal Service, his punctuality, and the tiniest package he ever encountered.
November
The madness of the election season finally came to a head with the Nov. 5 General Election, and the House District 38 race went to the newcomer from Toksook Bay, Nellie Jimmie.
In Bethel, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Fitness Center, celebrating its 10-year anniversary, put out the call for lifeguards to fill the gap in pool programs, while the city found a permanent hire in Lori Strickler to take the helm of administering a wide array of programs as city manager.
Over in Kwethluk, the Orthodox church came out in bitter cold to exhume the remains of the first-ever Yup’ik saint, Olinka “Arrsamquq” Michael, or Matushka Olga. Moving St. Olga’s remains to the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church was just one step in ambitious plans to make Kwethluk a destination for pilgrims, and a center of healing for the region.
Five years after residents started making the move to Mertarvik from Newtok, the village entered the final stage of its permanent shutdown. As tiny homes arrived in Mertarvik to address a lack of available living spaces, Newtok’s last-ever residents reflected on leaving their home village behind.
And finally, KYUK welcomed new reporter Samantha Watson all the way from Massachusetts. She quickly set to work bringing her love for public radio to listeners across the region, beginning with truckloads of turkeys.
December
Early in December, multiple communities on the Y-K Delta dealt with utility shutdowns. In Russian Mission, a pump failure impacted the community’s water system,. In Hooper Bay, power failures stopped water to some houses. In Newtok, critical utilities shut down as the community made the final steps to move to Mertarvik, 9 miles up the Ningliq River.
With the dig season wrapped up, archaeologists and volunteers reflected on the statewide importance of the Nunalleq dig site outside of Quinhagak.
Twenty-three-year-old Yup’ik engineer Charitie Ropati of Kongiganak and Anchorage was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 education list.
After a deadly fire in October, Mountain Village’s city administration building burned to the ground. And in Bethel, two former police officers and the City of Bethel were named in a civil suit alleging violent assault during a traffic stop.
December also brought some record-breaking warm weather to the Y-K Delta and Northwest Alaska, slowing the roll-out of the Kuskokwim Ice Road. As the year closed, communities around the region celebrated the holidays in their own unique ways.
It’s been a full year of news for the Y-K Delta. Quyana cakneq for tuning in and reading KYUK’s reporting. We’ll catch you next year!
