When I first moved to Mertarvik, everyone, including the students, had to wear bright orange and yellow construction vests while walking between our homes and the school. That’s because there was heavy equipment going from one building site to another. The types of construction vehicles I saw were excavators, cranes, dump trucks, graders, forklifts, loaders, boom lifts, and flatbed trucks. They were here for the building of the airport, the roads, and the homes.
Back in October 2019, my family and I left Newtok and moved 9 miles away to Mertarvik, one of the newest villages in the United States. It has now been five years since we moved here. When I moved, I was excited for a new life and a new home, but when I realized I was moving and leaving the place I grew up at, I started getting emotional. Everything became real. Real as in realizing I am here.
We had to wear those vests for a while until the head of the construction team said it was okay to not wear them anymore. Then, in Summer 2021, the construction from a year before resumed and it went by quickly. From what I’ve seen, the workers were pretty efficient with building the homes and the roads.
There have been many changes in Mertarvik ever since the first move back in 2019. They are very noticeable throughout Mertarvik. A couple of the changes I’ve noticed are the roads increasing, the homes multiplying and people moving over from Newtok to Mertarvik, and construction still going on.
A year later, in 2022, the construction was still going on for the homes, school, the roads, and for the airport. There were many busy workers working and trying to get things done very quickly. In October of 2022, the airport was finished and it was now open for planes to use. It wasn’t fully open, but it was finished. It fully opened in November of 2022. Then, planes were able to fly in and out of Mertarvik.
During the summer of 2023, there were plans for the Post Office to move over to Mertarvik. The tribe discussed it during meetings. Many people had different opinions on it, but many accepted it. Then, in November of 2023, the Post Office moved over and more planes began to fly in and out of Mertarvik. When the Post Office moved over to Mertarvik, I felt like it brought the community closer together and made us feel more at home rather than being separated from each other.
Then in June of 2024, construction began for the new school. Multiple barges were going in and out of Mertarvik to drop off equipment for the school. Many construction vehicles were going from one place to another. The construction has progressed significantly since then.
In September, temporary homes arrived for the rest of the people in Newtok. Now everybody has moved over to Mertarvik from Newtok. The temporary homes sit on the upper hillside of Mertarvik.
Today, there is still construction going on for the new school here in Mertarvik. Huge equipment is still traveling from one place to another and many workers are very busy getting things done.
The river has now frozen up and winter is here. The old village is empty, but all the memories are still there and in our hearts. We are now one. One as a whole community.
Here are some updates on Mertarvik construction projects:
New School:
The new school is fully funded, under construction, and it is estimated to open in August 2026, according to Kim Sweet, Director of Facilities for the Lower Kuskokwim School District.
Housing:
There are currently 49 permanent homes in Mertarvik. The Newtok Village Council will reevaluate the number of homes needed in 2025. The relocation project team is currently applying for funding for the permanent homes and aims to get everyone moved in the next 12-24 months, but that timeline is not guaranteed.
Update: As of March 21, 2025 applications for funding were on hold as a result of federal funding freezes.
Transitional Housing:
There are currently 18 transitional homes in Mertarvik. Thirteen are single family homes and five are duplexes. The single family homes were designed so they can be additions to permanent homes. The duplexes will serve as overflow housing for the village once the families currently living in them are moved into permanent housing. The Newtok Village Council is working with the Cold Climate Housing Research Center to build the other halves of the homes and add ventilation systems, according to Newtok Village Council Tribal Administrator Calvin Tom.
Church:
The Newtok Village Council is working with the Catholic diocese to build a church across the road from the site of the new school. The church is being constructed offsite and will be sent to Mertarvik on a barge in the Summer of 2025, according to Tribal Administrator Calvin Tom.
Water/Sewer:
The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is managing the water/sewer project for Mertarvik. They hope to have the system connected to the new school in time for it to open by August of 2026. Homes will be connected by 2027 or 2028. The estimated cost of the project is $38 million, according to Tracy McKeon, a Principal Mechanical Engineer and consultant for the Newtok Village Council.
Clinic:
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is in the process of securing funding to build a new clinic in Mertarvik. YKHC anticipates starting construction in 2025 and opening the new clinic in 2027. In the meantime, YKHC health aides and providers are seeing patients in the temporary clinic, which is approximately 1,000 square feet and contains an exam room, urgent care area, office, pharmacy, and bathroom, according to YKHC Vice President of Communications Mary Horgan.
Generators:
Mertarvik will eventually have two generators with one acting as backup. Last summer, a larger generator was installed to replace "generator one." The Newtok Village Council is in the process of purchasing the second generator but the purchase is on hold because of a federal funding freeze. NVC hopes to order and install the second generator in 2025, according to Tribal Administrator Calvin Tom.
"Lessons From Newtok" is led by photographers Katie Baldwin Basile and Emily Schiffer and supported by the Newtok Village Council, Lower Kuskokwim School District, Fox Air, International Teaching Artist Collective, New York Foundation for the Arts, Provincetown School District, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and KYUK.