Editing Point Hope, Alaska

{{short description|City in Alaska, United States}}
{{for|the headland|Point Hope (cape)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Point Hope
|native_name              = Tikiġaq
| native_name_lang        = ik
|settlement_type          = [[City (Alaska)|City]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    = <!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = 
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = 
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               = <!-- Maps -->
|pushpin_map  = USA Alaska
|pushpin_map_caption  = Location in Alaska

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = [[Alaska]]
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|Borough]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[North Slope Borough, Alaska|North Slope]]
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = [[Mayor]]
|leader_name              = Henry Nashookpuk
|leader_title1            = [[Alaska Senate|State senator]]
|leader_name1             = [[Donny Olson]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
|leader_title2            = [[Alaska House of Representatives|State rep.]]
|leader_name2             = [[Robyn Burke]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
|established_title        = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
|established_date         = January 5, 1966<ref>{{cite journal|title=Directory of Borough and City Officials 1974|journal=Alaska Local Government|volume=XIII|issue=2|page=66|location=Juneau|publisher=[[Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development|Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs]]|date=January 1974}}</ref>

<!-- Area -->
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_02.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=October 29, 2021}}</ref>
|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 13.14
|area_land_km2            = 12.95
|area_water_km2           = 0.19
|area_total_sq_mi         = 5.07
|area_land_sq_mi          = 5.00
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.07

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_footnotes     = <ref name="2020 Census">{{Cite web|title=Point Hope city, Alaska|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Point_Hope_city,_Alaska?g=160XX00US0261630|access-date=September 7, 2023}}</ref>
|population_total         = 830
|population_density_km2   = 64.08
|population_density_sq_mi = 165.97
|pop_est_as_of = 
|pop_est_footnotes = 
|population_est =

|timezone                 = [[Alaska Standard Time|AKST]]
|utc_offset               = -09:00
|timezone_DST             = [[Alaska Daylight Time|AKDT]]
|utc_offset_DST           = -08:00
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_m              = 
|elevation_ft             = 20
|coordinates              = {{coord|68|20|49|N|166|45|47|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 99766
|area_code                = [[Area code 907|907]]
|area_code_type           = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 02-61630
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1408110 <ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|1408110}}</ref> 
|website                  = 
|footnotes                = 
|unit_pref = Imperial
}}

'''Point Hope''' ({{langx|ik|Tikiġaq}}, {{IPA|ik|tikeʁɑq|IPA}}) is a city in [[North Slope Borough, Alaska]], [[United States]]. At the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]] the population was 674, down from 757 in 2000. In the 2020 Census, the population rose to 830.

Like many isolated communities in [[Alaska]], the city has no road or rail connections to the outside world, and must be accessed by sea or by air at [[Point Hope Airport]].

==History==
[[File:PtHpe Bns.JPG|thumb|left|A pile of whale bones in Point Hope, at the spot where celebrations are held at the conclusion of the whaling season.]]
Before any modern settlement, the [[Ipiutak]] lived here.

The descriptive [[Inuit]] name of the place, "Tikarakh" or "[[Tikigaq|Tikiġaq]]", commonly spelled "Tiagara", means "forefinger". It was recorded as "Tiekagagmiut" in 1861 by P. Tikhmeniev Wich of the [[Imperial Russian Navy|Russian Hydrographic Department]] and on Russian Chart 1495{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} it became "Tiekaga". This ancient village site was advantageous, because the protrusion of Point Hope into the sea brought the whales close to the shore. At Tikigaq, they built semi-subterranean houses using mainly whalebone and driftwood.  Point Hope is one of the oldest continually occupied sites in North America. While some of the earlier dwellings have been lost to erosion as the point shrinks, it still provides valuable information to archaeologists on how early Eskimos survived in their harsh environment. The Tikigaq site according to Helge Larsen is, "by far the most extensive and complete one-period site yet discovered and described in the entire circumpolar region."<ref>The Firecracker Boys, O'Neill</ref>

The first recorded Europeans to sight this cape were [[Russians|Russian]] explorers [[Ensign Mikhail Vasiliev|Mikhail Vasiliev]] and [[Gleb Shishmaryov]] of the [[Imperial Russian Navy]] on the ships ''Otkrietie'' and ''Blagonamierennie''. Vasiliev and Shishmaryov named this landhead Mys Golovnina, after Vice Admiral [[Vasily Golovnin]] (1776–1831).

The cape at Point Hope was renamed by Captain [[Frederick William Beechey]] of the [[Royal Navy]], who wrote on August 2, 1826: ''"I named it Point Hope in compliment to Sir [[William Johnstone Hope]]".'' According to [[Hudson Stuck|Archdeacon Stuck]]<ref>1920, p.&nbsp;96</ref> Hope was from a "well-known house long connected with the sea".<ref>[http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=108:3:7904351601948579158::NO::P3_FID:1408109 USGS]</ref> [[Noel Wien]] made the first flight here in August 1927.<ref name="Ira">{{cite book |last1=Harkey |first1=Ira |title=Pioneer Bush Pilot |date=1991 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=0553289195 |page=204}}</ref>

Point Hope residents successfully opposed [[Project Chariot]] in 1962. The project would have involved buried thermonuclear detonations some {{Convert|30|mi}} from the village to create a deep-water artificial harbor, which would only have been usable about three months out of the year.

==Geography==
Point Hope is located in the [[Point Hope (cape)|Point Hope]] landhead, at the northwestern end of the [[Lisburne Peninsula]], on the [[Chukchi Sea]] coast, {{convert|40|mi|km}} southwest of Cape Lisburne, Arctic Slope at {{coord|68|20|49|N|166|45|47|W|type:city}} (68.347052, -166.762917).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> It is just above the [[Arctic Circle]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the city has a total area of {{convert|6.4|sqmi|km2}}, of which, {{convert|6.3|sqmi|km2}} of it is land and {{convert|0.1|sqmi|km2}} of it (1.09%) is water.

In December 2017, ''[[The New York Times]]'' profiled Point Hope, reporting that "a surprising, and bittersweet, side effect of global warming" would soon bring Point Hope "one of the fastest internet connections in America".<ref name=NYTimes2017-12-02/> The people largely rely on traditional subsistence activities such as hunting whales. However, the melting of sea ice and thawing of permafrost as a result of global warming threaten the traditional lifestyles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Joseph |date=2024-07-03 |title=What 6 degrees of warming means for a community built on ice |url=https://www.vox.com/climate/358597/climate-extreme-heat-alaska-indigenous-solutions |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{See also|Tikiġaġmiut}}
{{update section|date=May 2023|reason=Newer information is available in the 2010 and 2020 census reports}}
{{US Census population
|1880= 276
|1890= 301
|1900= 623
|1910= 243
|1920= 141
|1930= 139
|1940= 257
|1950= 264
|1960= 324
|1970= 386
|1980= 464
|1990= 639
|2000= 757
|2010= 674
|2010n={{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|2020= 830
|2020n={{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2023|reason=No mention of Point Hope at the given link}}
}}
Point Hope first appeared on the 1880 U.S. Census as the unincorporated Inuit settlement of "Tikirak."<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rr9RAQAAMAAJ&q=tikirak&pg=PA49 |title = Geological Survey Professional Paper|year = 1949}}</ref> All of its 276 residents were Inuit.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics of the Population of Alaska |url=https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v1-17.pdf |website=United States Census Bureau |date=1880}}</ref> In 1890, it returned as Point Hope. Out of its 301 residents, 295 were Natives, 5 were White and 1 was "Other." It continued to return as Point Hope in 1900 and 1910. From 1920-40, it returned as the village of "Tigara" (with the alternative name of Point Hope). In 1950, it returned as Point Hope and has continued to do so to date. In 1966, it formally incorporated.

As of the [[2010 United States Census]], there were 674 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 87.8% Native American, 5.8% White, 0.4% Black, 0.1% from some other race and 3.9% from two or more races. 1.9% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As of the census<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=May 2023|reason=No mention of Point Hope at the given link}} of 2000, there were 757 people, 186 households, and 151 families living in the city.  The population density was {{convert|119.4|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 215 housing units at an average density of {{convert|33.9|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the city was 8.72% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 0.13% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 87.05% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.13% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.13% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 3.83% from two or more races.  1.72% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

There were 186 households, out of which 54.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 19.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% were non-families. 13.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 4.07 and the average family size was 4.50.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 42.5% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 14.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 122.6 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $63,125, and the median income for a family was $66,250. Males had a median income of $41,750 versus $35,625 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the city was $16,641.  About 13.9% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.

==Education==
The [[North Slope Borough School District]] operates the [[Tikiġaq School]] in Point Hope.<ref>"[http://www.nsbsd.org/Page/1831 Point Hope]." [[North Slope Borough School District]]. Retrieved on February 14, 2017.</ref>

==Health==
Sale, importation, and possession of alcohol are banned in the village.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/Portals/9/pub/ABC/DryDampCommunities/Local%20Option%20Communities%20-%20Rev%202.25.22.pdf |title=Schedule of Local Option Communities |publisher=Alcoholic Beverage Control Board |accessdate=May 3, 2023}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[John B. Driggs]] (1852–1914), physician who wrote ''Short Sketches of Oldest America'' (1905), a collection of stories and sketches of the [[Inupiat]] natives of Point Hope<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lowenstein |first1=Tom |title=Ultimate Americans: Point Hope, 1826 - 1929 |date=2008 |publisher=University of Alaska Press |location=Anchorage, AK |isbn=9781602230385 }}</ref>
* [[Caroline Cannon]], awarded the [[Goldman Environmental Prize]] in 2012.  In addition to her environmental activism, Cannon has served on Point Hope's [[city council]] on and off for many years, including serving as [[mayor]] from 1998 to 2001<ref name ="AML">{{cite news|title=From the Arctic's Melting Ice, an Unexpected Digital Hub|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/technology/from-the-arctics-melting-ice-an-unexpected-digital-hub.html|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=December 2, 2017}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="135px" caption="Images from Point Hope">


</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Point Hope (cape)]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=NYTimes2017-12-02>
{{cite news 
| url         = https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/technology/from-the-arctics-melting-ice-an-unexpected-digital-hub.html?_r=0
| title       = From the Arctic's Melting Ice, an Unexpected Digital Hub
| work        = [[New York Times]]
| author      = Cecilia Kang
| date        = December 2, 2017
| page        = BU1
| location    = Point Hope, Alaska
| access-date  = December 2, 2017
| quote       = But in a surprising, and bittersweet, side effect of global warming — and of the global economy — one of the fastest internet connections in America is arriving in Point Hope, giving the 700 or so residents their first taste of broadband speed.
}}
</ref>
}}

{{North Slope Borough, Alaska}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Chukchi Sea]]
[[Category:Cities in Alaska]]
[[Category:Cities in North Slope Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Alaska on the Arctic Ocean]]
[[Category:Populated places of the Arctic United States]]
[[Category:Road-inaccessible communities of Alaska]]