Savoonga, AK

Savoonga is a city on the northern coast of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, about 63 kilometers southeast of Gambell. The island has been home to Alaskan Yup'ik and Siberian Yupik people for roughly two thousand years. Savoonga incorporated in 1969, and in 1971 Savoonga and Gambell became joint owners of most of St. Lawrence Island through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The 2020 census counted 835 residents.

ATTRStaff Sgt. Edward Eagerton / Public domain

Life here follows the island and the water. Subsistence hunting and fishing include walrus, seals, fish, and bowhead whales, and the Bering Sea sets the terms for travel, weather, and seasonal work. Hogarth Kingeekuk Sr. Memorial School serves students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 as part of the Bering Strait School District. The school, city government, shoreline, and community spaces all sit within a place where cultural knowledge is carried through families and the island remains both home and working landscape. Savoonga is remote in distance, but its map is full of long connections.