Editing Kotzebue, Alaska (section)

===Etymology and prehistory===
Owing to its location and relative size, Kotzebue served as a trading and gathering center for the various communities in the region. The [[Noatak River|Noatak]], [[Selawik River|Selawik]] and [[Kobuk River|Kobuk]] Rivers drain into the Kotzebue Sound near Kotzebue to form a center for transportation to points inland. In addition to people from interior villages, inhabitants of far-eastern Asia, now the [[Russian Far East]], came to trade at Kotzebue. Furs, seal-oil, hides, rifles, ammunition, and seal skins were some of the items traded. People also gathered for competitions like the current [[World Eskimo Indian Olympics]]. With the arrival of the whalers, traders, gold seekers, and missionaries the trading center expanded.

Kotzebue is also known as Qikiqtaġruk, which means "small island" or "resembles an island" in the [[Iñupiaq language]].<ref>Lincoln, Blanche Qapuk. ''Lore of the Iñupiat: The Elders Speak (Vol. 3)''. 1992. p. 235.</ref> In the words of the late Iñupiaq elder Blanche Qapuk Lincoln of Kotzebue:
{{blockquote|Iḷiḷgaaŋukapta tamarra pamna imiqaqtuq. Taavaasii kuuqahuni taiñña Adams-kutlu Ipaaluk-kutlu, taapkuak piagun tavra. Taiñña suli Katyauratkutlu, Lena Norton tupqata piagun tavra kuuk suli taugani...Manna uvva qikiqtaq, Qikiqtaġruŋmik tavra atiqautiginiġaa qikiqtaupluni. Nunałhaiñġuqtuq marra pakma. ("When we were children there was water behind front street and a slough between the Ipalooks and Adams'. There was another slough over between Coppocks and Lena Norton's house...The island on Front Street led to Kotzebue being called Qikiqtaġruk because island in Iñupiaq is called ''qikiqtaq''.").<ref>Lincoln, Blanche Qapuk. ''Lore of the Iñupiat: The Elders Speak (Vol. 3)''. 1992. p. 234-235.</ref>}}

Kotzebue gets its name from the [[Kotzebue Sound]], which was named after [[Otto von Kotzebue]], a [[Baltic German]] who explored the sound while searching for the [[Northwest Passage]] in the service of Russia in 1818.