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Ekuk
Ekuk is located on the east coast of
Nushagak Bay, 17 miles south of Dillingham. It is spread out for about 2
miles along a narrow gravel spit that extends from the Ekuk Bluffs in
the shape of a hook. It lies at approximately 58° 49' N Latitude, 158°
33' W Longitude (Sec. 12, T016S, R056W, Seward Meridian). The community
is located in the Bristol Bay Recording District. The area encompasses
15 sq. miles of land and 10 sq. miles of water.
 The
word Ekuk means "the last village down," reflecting that Ekuk is the
farthest village south on the Nushagak Bay. The village is mentioned in
Russian accounts of 1824 and 1828 as Village Ekouk and Seleniye Ikuk. It
is thought that Ekuk was a major Eskimo village at one time. Russians
employed Natives as guides for their boats as they navigated up Nushagak
Bay to the trading post at Aleksandrovsk after 1818. Before the North
Alaska Salmon Company opened a cannery at Ekuk in 1903, many residents
had moved to the Moravian Mission at Carmel. In addition, numerous
canneries sprang up during 1888 and 1889 on the east and west sides of
the bay, which drew many residents away from the village. Ekuk had a
school from 1958 to 1974. Today, the cannery watchman's family are the
only year-round residents. In the summer, the village comes alive with
cannery crews, commercial fishing and subsistence activities.
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