Parish Profiles

The Central Yup'ik Eskimo village of Alakanuk gets its name from the Yup'ik word alarneq, meaning "wrong way," or "mistake," referring to its close proximity to a maze of waterways. Alakanuk is located at the east entrance of Alakanuk Pass, the major southern channel of the Yukon River, 15 miles from the Bering Sea. It is part of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

Alakanuk is a Yup'ik Eskimo village active in commercial fishing and subsistence. Salmon, beluga whale, seal, moose, and rabbit are plentiful in season. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Village of Alakanuk. Its 2011 population, according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, was 683.

There are no roads connecting Alakanuk with other population centers in the region but the Yukon River is used as an ice road during freeze-up, from November through May. Snow machines and boats are used for local travel. The village is easily accessible from the Yukon River and Bering Sea by barge and riverboat, and a state-owned and -managed 2,200' long by 55' wide gravel airstrip is available. Most passengers and mail arrive by air.
The village was first reported by G.R. Putnam of the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey in 1899, and was reportedly settled by a Yup'ik shaman named Anguksuar and his family.

A Catholic presence was soon on the scene. In 1904 the first church was built and was dedicated to St. Ignatius. A new church was built in 1943. It was lost, however, in the Yukon River flood of spring 1952, but replaced with a new church that same year. In 1966-67, the present Saint Ignatius Church was built. It too has had its share of water related woes. The church has been moved twice due to riverbank erosion.
For generations people here were baptized by visiting priests stationed at Akulurak.

After the 1950's, the Society of Jesus served this village for periods which extended for one or two years, rarely more. Sometimes no priests were available to offer Mass and administer Sacraments. Other times, Jesuit priests visited Alakanuk from Sheldon Point, Emmonak or other villages.
Because of priest shortages, parish administrators have served since the 1990's to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life. Deacons often celebrate the liturgies at Alakanuk giving homilies, assisting with marriages and baptisms as well as funerals. Religious Sisters of Notre Dame, and Sisters of St. Dominic, have also been an important presence at Saint Ignatius Parish. Presently the parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion A.

Aniak is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located on the south bank of the Kuskokwim River at the head of Aniak Slough, 59 miles southeast of Russian Mission in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It lies 92 air miles northeast of Bethel and 317 miles west of Anchorage.

Aniak is a Yup'ik word meaning "the place where it comes out," which refers to the mouth of the Aniak River. This river played a key role in the placer gold rush of 1900-01. In 1914, Tom L. Johnson homesteaded the site and opened a store and post office. The location became a trading post for mining camps developing along the Kuskokwim River. It was also visited earlier in the 18th century by Russian explorers.

A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Village of Aniak. Aniak's population was 539 in 2011, according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates. Its people are primarily Yup'ik Eskimos and Tanana Athabaskans.

The economy of Aniak is based on government, transportation, and retail services. As the largest city in the area, Aniak is a service hub for surrounding villages. Subsistence activities supplement part-time wage earnings in government, transportation and retail services. Some commercial fishing occurs. Many families travel to fish camps each summer. Salmon, moose, bear, birds, berries, and home gardening provide food sources. Some Roman Catholic parishioners of Aniak have their roots in the Holy Cross and Paimiut Missions. Baptisms were administered at Aniak long before a permanent mission was established. The year 1939 marked the beginning of an official Catholic presence at Aniak when St. Theresa Catholic church was built. In 1968, Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J., put together a construction crew for the purpose of building a new church.

For many years, Saint Theresa parish was staffed by Jesuits stationed in Bethel and , later, at McGrath, Kalskag or Holy Cross. In recent years, due to priest shortages, the church has been served by parish administrators to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life, and by pastoral coordinators to coordinate liturgies, marriages, and baptisms.. Presently the parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion B.

Barrow, the northernmost community in the United States, is located on the Chukchi Sea coast, 330 miles above the Arctic Circle, 530 air miles northwest of Fairbanks and 725 air miles from Anchorage. It is named for nearby Point Barrow, which was named for Sr. John Barrow, 2nd Secretary of the British Admiralty. The settlement's Inupiaq name is Utqiagvik, "the place to hunt snowy owls."

The climate of Barrow is arctic. The Chukchi Sea is typically ice-free from mid-June through October. Annual snowfall is 20 inches. The daily minimum temperature is below freezing 324 days of the year. Prevailing winds are easterly and average 12 mph. The sun does not set between May 10th and August 2nd each summer and does not rise between Nov. 18th and January 24th each winter.

Barrow's 2011 population was 4,309, according to the 2011 Alaska Department of Labor estimates. The majority of residents are Inupiat Eskimos, who have traditionally depended on subsistence marine mammal hunting, supplemented by inland hunting and fishing for food sources including whale, seal, polar bear, walrus, duck, caribou, grayling, and whitefish.

Barrow is the economic center of the North Slope Borough, the city's primary employer. Numerous businesses provide support services to oil field operations.

Saint Patrick Church at Barrow can boast that it is the northernmost Catholic church in the world. Catholicism took root there in 1954 when the first St. Patrick Church was built from abandoned WW II military salvage buildings, Quonset huts, from a nearby Army base. The makeshift church building served the parish community for nearly 40 years, despite the fact that it was woefully lacking in basics such as running water, toilet facilities and an efficient heating system.

Finally, on Easter Sunday 1992, the last Mass was offered in the Quonset hut church. In the spring of that year it was torn down and construction of the new St. Patrick Church, complete with living facilities for priests, was begun. On Christmas 1992, Midnight Mass was celebrated in the new church even though it was not quite finished. Finally, on Sunday, March 28, 1993, the new church was formally dedicated by then Bishop Michael J. Kaniecki, S.J.

Barrow was served by Jesuit priests for some time. Since the year 2000, the parish has been visited by priests stationed in Fairbanks. Such is still the case.

The Central Yup'ik Eskimo town of Bethel is located on the northwestern bank of the Kuskokwim River, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It lies approximately 40 miles inland from the Bering Sea but is nonetheless accessible to ocean going vessels; it is also an airline hub, serving 48 villages in the Delta.

Bethel was first established by Yup'ik Eskimos, who called the village "Mumtrekhlagamute," meaning "Smokehouse People," named for the nearby fish smokehouse. There were 41 people in Bethel during the 1880 U.S. Census. At that time, it was an Alaska Commercial Company Trading Post. A post office was opened in 1905.

Before long, Bethel was serving as a trading, transportation, and distribution center for the region, which attracted Natives from surrounding villages. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Orutsararmuit Native Village. The city was incorporated in 1957. Over time, federal and state agencies established regional offices in Bethel. The 2011 population was 6,228 according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates.

The region is fortunate in that rapid development did not occur before the importance of protecting Native culture was realized. The traditional Yup'ik Eskimo practices and language remain predominant in the area. Subsistence activities and commercial fishing are major contributors to residents' livelihoods.

The Yup'ik people of the Bethel region were first Christianized by Moravian Missionaries in 1885.

Roman Catholic presence began in the 1890's when Jesuit missionaries stopped in Bethel while traveling between Holy Cross and Tununak, but no permanent mission station was established there until the early 1940's. In 1943, the first Catholic Church, Immaculate Conception, was built. It was a small church next to what is commonly referred to as "Honey Bucket Lake." During the years from 1956 -59, the old church building was replaced by another structure. Finally, in the early 1990's the third Immaculate Conception Church was built at Bethel. The new church design tastefully incorporated the stained glass windows from the old church in the shape of a cross with lovely effect, favorably creating a sense of continuity. Immaculate Conception Church was dedicated on April 5, 1995.

Over the course of time many members of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps also served the church in various capacities. Among them was Rosalie Elaine L'Ecuyer who served as a JVC member for two years, then continued serving as a “diocesan volunteer” from 1982 to 1988. Though no longer in Bethel, L'Ecuyer is still an active diocesan volunteer.

Currently, four Jesuit priests make Bethel their home base while working in team ministry in the surrounding Yukon-Kuskokwim region.

The old (2nd) church was destroyed by fire in 2004. The Diocese fund-raised for many years to build a new church for the Catholic community in Chefornak. The project was completed in late 2022. 

Chefornak is a Central Yup'ik village located on the south bank of the Kinia River, at its junction with the Keguk River, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a little southeast of Nelson Island, 98 air miles southwest of Bethel. The village lies within the Clarence Rhode National Wildlife Refuge, established for migratory waterfowl protection.

The area has historically been occupied by Yup'ik Eskimos. In the early 1950s, Alexie Amagiqchik founded a small general store at the site. He had moved from a village on the Bering Sea to the new location one mile inland to escape potential floodwaters. Others from the original village followed and settled in Chefornak. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, and the 2011 population, according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, was 437. A traditional Yup'ik Eskimo community, Chefornak residents practice a subsistence lifestyle with some commercial fishing.

First mention of a Catholic community in Chefornak came in 1937 with recorded baptisms of many children and adults. Chefornak is a strongly Catholic community. In the 1940's, a Jesuit priest, who also served other Nelson Island area villages wrote about the people of Chefornak. "I am miles away from my beloved nest on Nelson Island at a place called Chfrnk (without vowels), where there is no teacher, no postmaster, no white man, but a fine group of natives, and all of them Catholic, keeping me on the go. The men-folk are away now for mink. The women-folk are wearing out the floor of the church. Can't keep them out of church, daily communicants, etc.; the Eskimos here are living saints."

St. Catherine of Siena has always been the patron saint of the Chefornak parish. The first church was built around 1952. It burned to the ground in 1972 and was rebuilt as a parish-community center. Funding for the new building came from both Church and State resources. In 1975, a traditional church building was constructed and paid for by villagers. The church was destroyed by fire in 2004. Currently, the Diocese is fund-raising to build a new church.

In recent years, Saint Catherine of Siena has been served by deacons, parish administrators and visiting ministers. Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. St. Catherine of Siena is served by ministers of Subregion C.

Chevak is a Cupik Eskimo village, located on the north bank of the Ninglikfak River, 17 miles east of Hooper Bay in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The village is sometimes referred to as "New Chevak" to distinguish it from "Old Chevak," a site on the north bank of the Keoklevik River.

Old Chevak, being prone to flooding, was abandoned in favor of the new site in 1950. The name Chevak refers to "a connecting slough," on which "Old" Chevak was situated. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the Cup'ik Eskimo community, the Chevak Native Village. The population, as of 2011 Alaska Department of Labor estimates, was 1966. Chevak has a maritime climate. Its location near the Bering Sea subjects the village to heavy winds and rain. Snowfall averages 60 inches per year. Freeze-up occurs at the end of October. Break-up occurs in June. Commercial fishing and subsistence activities, including the harvesting of salmon, seal, walrus, clams, and waterfowl, are an important part of the local culture.

The Chevak Catholic Community has its roots in the missions of Kashunuk and "Old Chevak." The Kashunuk mission was located on the north bank of the Keoklevik River, 9 miles east of Hooper Bay, and was dedicated to the Sacred Heart; but the people began to move from Kashunuk to Old Chevak in the 1930's because of flooding problems. A mission named for Saint John the Baptist was established in Old Chevak in 1935, and construction begun on a new church. Some of the lumber came from partially dismantling the former Kashunuk mission. The new church in Old Chevak was completed in 1937. Old Chevak, however, was also prone to floods, so the people moved again, this time a few miles upriver to present day "New Chevak."

In 1950 the new church was built in New Chevak and dedicated to the Sacred Heart, as was the original mission at Kashunuk. In the summer of 1982, the foundation for a new church was laid. The New church was formally dedicated on April 13, 1983 by Bishop Robert L. Whelan, S.J. Since then, Sacred Heart Church has had either resident priests, or visiting priests who came on a regular basis. In recent years, Sacred Heart has been served by deacons, parish administrators and visiting ministers of Subregion C of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of the Diocese.

Mailing Address: PO BOX  446, Delta Junction, AK 99737-0446

Streat Address: 2565 DEBORAH ST, Delta Junction, AK

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/ourladyofsorrowstest2/

Delta Junction is located at the convergence of the Richardson and Alaska Highways, approximately 95 miles southeast of Fairbanks. The city developed along the east bank of the Delta River, south of its junction with the Tanana River. It offers spectacular views of the Alaska Mountain Range. The visitor's center is located in the "Triangle," where the Alaska Highway meets the Richardson Highway. Tanana Athabaskans Indians occupied this site throughout most of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1899, the army sent parties to investigate the region to find the best route for a trail north from Valdez through the Copper River Valley. By 1901, the army had completed the Trans-Alaska Military Road, which extended from Valdez to Eagle. In 1942, construction of the Alaska Highway began, and Fort Greely military base was completed 5 miles to the south. The 2011 population, according to Alaska Department of Labor estimates was 991.

The Catholic Church began to establish itself in the early 1940's when benefactor Ray Stirewalt donated a building and some land on Buffalo Lane. The building was remodeled into a simple church. In 1952 a new church was built. It served until the present Our Lady of Sorrows was built in 1989. Catholic Church history in Delta Junction is linked to that of other communities along the Richardson and Alcan Highways such as Delta, Tok, and Northway, which either border the Alaska Range or cross these formidable mountains at Isabelle Pass.

When the Alcan Highway connecting Alaska to the contiguous States was completed in the early 1940's, Ms. Marie Bronson, a State of Alaska Public Health Nurse and devout Catholic who worked in the region, observed that the district was sorely in need of a Catholic priest. She appealed to then Bishop Francis Gleeson who responded favorably. He sent a diocesan priest to begin the task of building "Church" from Delta to Tok and southeast to Northway, and points as far as Glennallen located south of the Alaska Range.

Eagle was named for its lofty neighbors, the American eagles nesting on nearby Eagle Bluff. The village of Eagle is located on the left bank of the Yukon River six miles west of the Alaska-Canada border and at the end of the Taylor Highway.

Eagle came into being in 1874 as a trading post called "Belle Isle," built by Moses Mercier who operated it until 1898, just at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in nearby Dawson City. Soon after the trading post was established Eagle became a mining camp. Then followed a military presence at Fort Egbert.

In 1898, Eagle became the seat of Government of the Third Judicial District of Alaska and in 1901 became a first-class city. At the beginning of the 1900's the new little town had a population approaching 2,000 and the future appeared to be bright. However, as is the way with many gold-rush communities, Eagle's heyday was brief. By 1910, Fairbanks and Nome gold prospects had lured away many, and the population had declined to 178. Fort Egbert was abandoned in 1911. Eagle Village population continued to decline. The current population according to a 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimate is 79.

The Catholic presence in Eagle dates from August 10,1899, when a Jesuit priest, arrived there. For $300.00 he bought a plot of land with two cabins on it in the most favorable part of town. The larger cabin became his residence and chapel. The mission was put under the patronage of Saint Francis Xavier.

The priest stayed five years in Eagle and received many into the Church while baptizing and blessing marriages and assisting at funerals. In 1904, he left Eagle to begin work in the then fledgling city of Fairbanks. From the priest's tenure onward, there has been no resident priest in Eagle. The Eagle community has been visited irregularly by Catholic clergy from Dawson, Fairbanks, Delta Junction or Tok.

In 2002 a Diocesan priest was assigned Saint Francis Xavier as its visiting priest, and also served two other "Road System" parishes of the Diocese of Fairbanks. However, most practicing Catholics have left the Eagle community and Saint Francis Xavier parish is now considered inactive.

Emmonak is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located at the mouth of the Yukon River, 10 miles from the Bering Sea, on the north bank of Kwiguk Pass. It lies 120 air miles northwest of Bethel. The village was originally called "Kwiguk," a Yup'ik word meaning "big stream." Villagers call themselves "Kuigpagmuit" or "people from the Yukon River." It has also been called "Emanguk" by the Census Bureau.

The original settlement was 1.4 miles south of its present location and was first reported by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1899. A post office was established there in 1920. Later, commercial fishing became a major industry in the village, and the Northern Commercial Company built a cannery. In 1964, the cannery was washed away by floods. Due to increasing flooding and erosion, the village was relocated 1.4 miles north of Kwiguk in 1964-65. The new location was renamed Emmonak, which means "blackfish."

A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, Emmonak Village. The village is involved in commercial fishing, processing, and subsistence activities. Residents of Chuloonawick, a nearby fish camp, also live in Emmonak. The 2011 population according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates was 796.

For generations the people had been visited by priests stationed at Akulurak. In 1953 a church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the original village settlement of Kwiguk. After the village moved from Kwiguk to Emmonak, a new church was built in Emmonak. The first mass was celebrated in the new church in September, 1967.

On August 6, 2000, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Most Reverend Michael Kaniecki, S.J., who was Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks for 15 years beginning in 1985, died of a heart attack at Emmonak. He was there to confirm candidates at Sacred Heart Church. A Jesuit priest, who still serves the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta mission regions of the Diocese, was at Bishop Kaniecki's side and administered to him the Last Rites of the Church. In recent years, Sacred Heart has been served by resident deacons, parish administrators, and pastoral facilitators, and by visiting priests and ministers of Subregion A of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.

In addition, the Y-K Region Adult Faith Program is home based in Emmonak. Adult Faith Formation (AFF), a challenging and rewarding ministry that touches all 24 bush villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region of Northwest Alaska. AFF develops and coordinates sub regional workshops and retreats on themes of prayer and spirituality; inculturation and dialogue; and social justice. Sacred Heart pastoral facilitator Patrick Tam is the director of AFF.

Fairbanks - Immaculate Conception Catholic Church Web Site

Fairbanks is located in the heart of Alaska's Interior, on the banks of the Chena River in the Tanana Valley.

In 1901, Captain E.T. Barnette established a trading post on the Chena River called "Barnette's Cache." A year later, gold was discovered 16 miles north of the post. The town grew as the Chena steamboat brought many prospectors during the Pedro Dome gold rush. Fairbanks was named in 1902 after Indiana Senator Charles Fairbanks, who became Vice President of the US from 1905 to 1909. In 1903, Judge James Wikersham moved the seat of the third judicial district from Eagle to Fairbanks. The population continued to increase as Fairbanks became the hub of the Interior. A 2011 Alaska Department of Labor estimate put Fairbanks' population at 30,547.

Fairbanks' first Catholic community at Immaculate Conception is juxtaposed with the frenetic gold discovery in 1902 and the arrival soon after of a pioneering priest in 1904. Almost immediately after his arrival from Eagle, the priest began building the first Catholic Church in Fairbanks. The first Mass was celebrated on the Feast of All Saints, November 1, 1904.

Soon the priest began another building project, St. Joseph Hospital. To staff this, he recruited Religious Sisters. The hospital admitted its first patients in November, 1906 and sat on the north bank of the Chena River.

Immaculate Conception was originally built on the south bank of the Chena River. However, in the winter of 1911, when freeze-up arrived and the river ice was thick enough, Fr. Monroe hired a team of horses and men to move the church across the river so that it would be closer to Saint Joseph Hospital. The crew, using skids, slid the church building across the ice to the north bank of the Chena River where Immaculate Conception Church now stands.

In 1962 when Pope John XXIII officially elevated the status of the northern missions and formally established the Diocese of Fairbanks, Immaculate Conception Church became the Cathedral of the North. It remained so until 1966 when Sacred Heart Cathedral was built to accommodate a growing congregation.

The "Little Church" has seen numerous pastors in the course of its existence. One of note was a Jesuit priest who served during the late 1920's. He had Immaculate Conception Church's beautiful stained glass windows installed. He also kept the building from burning down when a furnace stovepipe caught fire in March, 1927.

On April 3, 1976, Immaculate Conception Church was listed on the National Registry of Historical Sites.

Fairbanks - Sacred Heart Cathedral Web Page

On August 8, 1962 Pope John XXIII officially established the Diocese of Fairbanks. Before that the Church in Alaska had been an Apostolic Vicariate, a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions that do not have a Diocese.

Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J., then Vicar Apostolic of Alaska, was appointed first Ordinary (Bishop) of the new diocese. Bishop Gleeson immediately set about the building of a cathedral dedicated to the Sacred Heart. It was sorely needed. Immaculate Conception Church was then the only Catholic parish in the area, but it was over half a century old and too small to accommodate the growing Catholic community. As many as eight Masses were being offered there each weekend.

In addition, the newly created diocese needed a cathedral "chair of authority" in which the bishop could bless Holy Oils used in the administration of the Sacraments. Before the cathedral was built, Holy Oils were obtained from Seattle for use by priests and missionaries in Alaska during the year. Official ground breaking ceremonies took place in 1962, but it took four years to complete construction. As reported in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, the building took "shape slowly according to available finances and the supply of volunteer labor."

Fr. James Spils, S.J., called "God's builder" according to records of The Alaska Shepherd archives, acted as construction superintendent. The first Mass at the Cathedral was celebrated on Palm Sunday, 1966. Bishop Gleeson was the main celebrant. During that Holy Week, the bishop, for the first time in the history of Alaska, blessed the Holy Oils used in the administration of the Sacraments.

The official dedication of the Cathedral to the Sacred Heart came two months later on the feast of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, June 17, 1966. On January 1, 1969, the Fairbanks parish was canonically divided into two parishes, Immaculate Conception and Sacred Heart Cathedral. A Jesuit priest became the Cathedral's first official pastor on August 15, 1969. During his tenure he nurtured the formation of a Parish Council. A few years earlier, and before the two Fairbanks parishes were canonically divided, the Parish Council had been elected from both parishes: one advising body for two churches. The 2000 jubilee book, A Brief Illustrated History of the Diocese of Fairbanks, lists Sacred Heart parishioners Michael Kelly, Robert Betz and Richard Greuel as principal organizers of the first Parish Council.

A number of priests served at Sacred Heart in the ensuing decades including members of the Society of Jesus who served the Cathedral from 1966 until 1982 when diocesan priests took over the task. The parish has also been blessed with the service of several deacons.

Parishioners celebrated Sacred Heart Cathedral's Silver Jubilee in June, 1991.

The Catholic community at The University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF), is served by St. Mark's University Parish. The parish is unique in that it does not have a church building of its own. Instead the congregation gathers for Sunday Masses in Muril Auditorium in the Margaret Murie "Life Science" Building on UAF's main campus.

Weekdays are different. For weekday masses and small group gatherings the parish community uses a small house owned by UAF. The house is tucked into a corner of the campus on Copper Lane, and has space for a small chapel, gathering place, an office and a kitchen.

The Copper Lane house is tied to the history of the University. In 1949 and 1950 UAF had six homes built on campus on Copper Lane. They were intended to house faculty for the new Geophysical Institute and served that purpose for a number of years.

However, the Diocese's Bishop formally established St. Mark University Parish in 1977, and the United Catholic Campus Ministry, including St. Mark's University Association and the Catholic Students Association, moved into the house at 517 Copper Lane.

Prior to 1977, Campus ministry had been covered by priests from Immaculate Conception Church and from Monroe Catholic High School who visited UAF to celebrate liturgy at various campus locales. A Jesuit priest also served as Newman Club Chaplain from 1958 to 1960. He celebrated Mass for students on the second floor of the Eielson Building on campus. Another Jesuit priest, served as Newman Club chaplain during the early 1960's and celebrated Mass in the homes or apartments of some of UAF's married students. These informal liturgies followed by family-like gatherings, became a Saint Mark's parish tradition.

When the parish was officially established in 1977 a Paulist priest became its first pastor and served St. Mark's for twenty years.

As of this writing, the little house on Copper Lane is home base to a vibrant faith family in a University setting. Besides Sunday Masses at nearby Schaible Auditorium, and customary pastoral services, St. Mark's hosts student gatherings for "fun, faith and fellowship," as well as student retreats, service projects and excursions into Alaska's outdoors.

Website: http://www.stmarksuaf.org

Fairbanks - Saint Raphael Catholic Church Web Site
 

St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church sits on a picturesque site in the northern hills just outside of Fairbanks. Dedicated in 1991, St. Raphael's is a baby parish compared with pioneer parishes in other parts of the diocese, but its founders still showed pioneer spirit.

The seeds of faith had been growing in the northern outskirts of Fairbanks since the late 1970's. A small prayer group sprang up and grew steadily. Soon they began meeting for Masses in homes north of town. Meantime, a Jesuit priest, received permission from the Bishop to serve the outlying northern areas. The town was expanding, and with it the Catholic population.

The first Mass was celebrated with a small group of Catholics northeast of Fairbanks at Two Rivers School. Later the priest received permission from the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to use Fox School gymnasium, northwest of town, for Sunday liturgies. The fledgling faith community, by then known as St. Raphael's Catholic Community, celebrated its first Mass at Fox School in November, 1979. Later liturgies were moved to Weller School. As more members of the growing population from nearby and outlying areas came for Masses, the need for a permanent place of worship became apparent.

Meantime, a man had a dream. Fairbanksan Tom Maher had told the priest years earlier of his dream to see a church built on land he owned on the Old Steese Highway. His dream came true. In 1981 Mr. Maher deeded that land to the Diocese of Fairbanks. It would be several more years before building began but Mr. Maher's dream was fulfilled, as was his wish that the church be placed under the patronage of St. Raphael the Archangel. Following the generous donation, creative fund-raising activities were initiated. One such fund raiser, St. Raphael's Christmas Ball was born then and became an annual parish event.

Leadership evolved. In 1983 the Jesuit priest was reassigned to Juneau. A Benedictine priest was appointed as "temporary" Sacramental Minister for Sunday liturgies. He retired from that position in 1995 and was followed by a Paulist priest then by a Diocesan Priest, then by a visiting priest from India.

But the parish was without full-time formal pastoral leadership much of its formative years until 1985 when Betty Johnson was appointed Pastoral Administrator by the Bishop. Mrs. Johnson served in that role until 1999. During her tenure Mrs. Johnson and the core group that had met for prayer in private homes two decades earlier saw to the successful completion of the new church. It was dedicated by Bishop Kaniecki on May 12, 1991.

Galena is a predominantly Koyukon Athabaskan Indian community located on the north bank of the Yukon River, 45 miles east of Nulato and 270 air miles west of Fairbanks. It lies northeast of the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge. The community was established around 1918 near a fish camp called Henry's Point. It became a supply point for miners of rich deposits of galena (lead ore) discovered nearby.

The Galena Air Field was constructed during World War II and the Galena and Campion Air Force Bases established in the 1950s. Though closed in the 1990's the bases brought growth and development to Galena and helped the community become a transportation, government, and commercial center for the western Interior, which it remains today.

Due to a severe flood in 1971, a new community site, colloquially referred to as "New Town," was developed at Alexander Lake, about 1.5 miles east of the original town site.

Galena's first church was a saloon building barged downriver from Ruby in 1921. The church was named "St. John's Catholic Church," in honor of St. John Berchmans. It was served by visiting priests from Nulato at first, but became an independent parish in 1952. The saloon church suffered flood damage in the 1970's but the weather-beaten building still served the community into the 1980's. Finally a new octagonal church was begun at the new town site in 1984. The new St. John Berchmans Church, with an attached residence built out of logs, was formally dedicated by Bishop Michael Kaniecki, S.J., on May 22, 1988.

The Jesuit Community served Saint John Berchmans parish for a good part of its history. In recent years Diocesan priests and priests from other Orders have been serving. Franciscan Friars have also served the parish since 1986.

In addition, several Catholic Sisters have taken leadership roles in service to the Galena community. They include Sisters of St. Ann; Sisters of Notre Dame; Sisters of St. Dominic; Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary; and Sisters of St. Joseph.

In the fall of 2002 two religious sisters took up residency in Galena, there to start and staff a Native Interior Ministry Study and Training Center. This, the Kateri Tekakwitha Center, was dedicated on August 31, 2003. Both sisters have since retired and the center awaits new personnel to carry on the vision.

Healy lies at the mouth of Healy Creek on the Nenana River, 78 miles southwest of Fairbanks. It is located on a 2.5-mile spur road, just north of the entrance to the Denali National Park and Preserve on the George Parks Highway, at mile 358.1 on the Alaska Railroad.

Because of its proximity to Mt. McKinley Healy has a seasonal tourist trade, but is basically a rail belt coal mining community. Its roots lie 3.5 miles east of today's town site in an early 1900's mining camp called Suntrana, now generally known as Usibelli Coal Mine.

Likewise, today's Holy Mary of Guadalupe parish has its roots in the Suntrana-Healy area. In the early 1950's priests began making infrequent visits to the area. By the mid-1950's Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J. visited Suntrana twice a month, travelling there from Fairbanks by train or plane. In 1957 construction on a church building began. The interior was still not finished, when a Jesuit priest celebrated Easter Mass there in 1959. This first church was named "St. Mary's."

In the 1960's a road was "punched through" from Nenana to Healy. It was reportedly not much more than a "tundra trail" at first, but it began an era of growth and expansion. People began settling in Healy's present site and in the 1970's people in Suntrana began moving there from the original camp. The road also made the Suntrana-Healy community more accessible to priests stationed in Nenana. As the coal mining community grew, so did the Catholic community. A bigger church was needed in the new town site.

Around 1980, the Bishop assigned the task of building a new church to a Diocesan building committee spearheaded by a Jesuit priest. Bishop Whelan dedicated the new church on May 30, 1982 under the title of Holy Mary of Guadalupe, thus fulfilling a promise the Jesuit priest made at the Shrine to Holy Mary of Guadalupe in Mexico to build a church in her honor. The original St. Mary's Church in Suntrana was eventually sold and moved to Healy where it was converted into a private home.

Visiting Jesuit and Diocesan priests continued to serve Healy along with other small communities on the "rail belt" like Cantwell, Anderson, Denali National Park (summers) and Clear Air Force Base until 1996 when a Diocesan priest made Healy his headquarters. A Dominican Sister served as Pastoral Administrator on the "rail belt" from 1989 -1991, during which time she encouraged lay participation, training several lay leaders in different areas of ministry. After she left, Ms. Barbara Walters was appointed Pastoral Administrator for the Healy parish. She still serves in that capacity. A Diocesan priest is Healy's current pastor.

Holy Cross is located in Interior Alaska on the west bank of Ghost Creek Slough off the Yukon River 279 miles upstream from the Bering Sea. The village was once located on a main channel of the Yukon, but the course of the river changed during the 1930s and by the mid-40s the slough on which the village is now located was formed.

The village was formerly called “Koserefsky.” It grew up around a Catholic mission and school established in the 1880s by a Jesuit priest who came to Alaska across the Chilkoot Trail. He brought with him a cross and a promise. The cross belonged to a retired bishop of Idaho, who gave the missionary party his pectoral cross containing a relic of the true cross. The promise was that a Northern Alaska mission be given the name “Mission of the Holy Cross.” In 1912, the name of the town was changed to “Holy Cross” after the mission.
Holy Cross’ long Catholic history began with a little two story log cabin mission. It was being built as a residence for priests but was quickly converted to a convent due the surprise arrival of three Sisters of Saint Ann in 1888. The sisters had come to start a school. Before long student boarders came from villages up and down the Yukon and from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and the small mission school was in full swing.

Holy Cross became the earliest training center for Alaskans living in the remote regions of the Bush. It was staffed mainly by Jesuit priests and Sisters of Saint Ann. Besides religion, reading, writing and arithmetic, boys were trained in mechanics, carpentry and gardening; while girls were trained in sewing, homemaking and gardening. Gardening was particularly important. Throughout its history, till the closing of the boarding school in 1956, Holy Cross Mission was forced to be as self-reliant as possible, especially in producing food for staff and students.

During its long history, Holy Cross saw a number and variety of structures go up and down, including a school, an infirmary, a sawmill and two churches.

The original lovely wooden frame Catholic Church was the village’s focal point. It was completed in 1906 and stood for over 60 years until, in dire disrepair; it was torn down in 1969. A new frame building was built along the same design in 1989. The Holy Cross parish has been under the patronage of the Holy Family since 1929.

Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, and religious and trained lay staff members. Holy Family is served by ministers of Subregion B.

Hooper Bay is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village on the Bering Sea Coast of western Alaska, 20 miles south of Cape Romanzof and 25 miles south of Scammon Bay in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

The village is separated into two sections. An older, heavily built-up town site sits on two gently rolling hills, one of which is colloquially called "Covenant Hill," the other "Catholic Hill." The newer section is situated on lower lands a half mile southwest toward the airport. The newer section began being built-up in the 1980's.

Hooper Bay is a large traditional Yup'ik Eskimo community. In 2011 the Alaska Department of Labor estimated the population to be about 1,137. Employment is largely seasonal and income is supplemented by subsistence activities. Members of the community produce grass baskets and ivory handicrafts. Salmon, walrus, beluga whale, and waterfowl are harvested. Marine mammals, freshwater fish, and migratory waterfowl, along with local plants and berries, represent the greater portion of the subsistence harvest.

Roman Catholic missionaries began visiting Hooper Bay, then known by its early Eskimo name as "Askinuk," in the 1890's. They were not the first Christians to arrive. The Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Covenant Church had already established a presence in the area, thus the dubbing of "Covenant Hill." The preachers of the Lutheran Covenant congregation were also public school teachers employed by the Federal Government.  Catholic influence grew slowly, but steadily. In 1928 a group of Jesuit priests and lay volunteers arrived from the Holy Cross sawmill with a supply of building materials for Hooper Bay's first Catholic Church. The group had barged the building materials from Holy Cross on a mission boat they had dubbed "The Little Flower." When the Hooper Bay church was finished in September of that year it likewise was dedicated to The Little Flower of Jesus.

The Sisters of Our Lady of the Snows also had their home in Hooper Bay. This short lived but spirit filled Catholic order of sisters was founded in Hooper Bay and was active from 1932 until 1947. The group was composed of local Yup'ik women who assisted in area ministry and helped establish the church in Hooper Bay and outlying mission stations. Ursuline religious Sisters, Sisters of Notre Dame, and Sisters of St. Joseph have also been an important presence in Hooper Bay. So too have Eskimo deacons.

Priests from the Society of Jesus served the Little Flower of Jesus parish for many years, either in residence or visiting from other villages. A Diocesan priest also ministered to the Hooper Bay Catholic community in the late 1980's.

Presently the parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion C.

The Athabaskan Indian village of Huslia is located on the north bank of the Koyukuk River, about 70 miles north of Galena and 290 air miles west of Fairbanks. It lies within the Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge.

The Koyukon Athabaskan originally lived between the south fork of theKoyukuk River and the Kateel River. They had spring, summer, fall, and winter camps and moved as the wild game migrated. In the summer many families floated on rafts to the Yukon to fish for salmon. Cutoff Trading Post (also called Old Town) was established in the 1920s about 4 miles overland or 16 river miles from modern Huslia.

In 1949, the community moved from Cutoff to the present site because Cutoff flooded frequently, and the ground was swampy. Huslia (originally spelled Huslee) was named after the Huslia River, which enters the Koyukuk near the village. Huslia had been used as a burial site since 1886 but by the time of the move most of the old cemetery had been destroyed by erosion. In 1950 the first school was established, followed by a post office, airport, and road construction in 1952. The name was changed to Huslia in 1952. Around this time families began to live year-round at Huslia.

Present day population is about 299, according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor estimates. Subsistence is still central to the local community, with salmon, whitefish, moose, bear, caribou, small game, waterfowl, and berries providing most food sources.

The Huslia Catholic Community has never had a resident priest. Alaskan Shepherd archives from 1954 report 25 Catholic residents in the village, many of whom reportedly "moved back and forth between the Catholic and Episcopal Churches." Huslia was visited infrequently by missionary priests from the Society of Jesus. Around 1955 the church was built and dedicated to St. Francis Regis. Shortly thereafter clergymen stops in the village became more regular.

The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity maintained a presence in pastoral ministry at St. Francis Regis in the 1980's. Franciscan Friars from Galena began ministering at the parish in 1986 and resided in the village off and on over the years. Diocesan priests began serving as visiting priests in the 1990's.

Presently a Franciscan brother serves as Pastoral Minister for St. Francis Regis from his home base in Galena.

Upper Kalskag is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located on the north bank of the Kuskokwim River, two miles upriver from Lower Kalskag. It lies in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, 30 miles west of Aniak and 99 miles northeast of Bethel.

The village was a fish camp called "Kessiglik" in the late 1800's." Around 1900, residents of "Kalthagamute" began to move to Kessiglik and the village grew. In the 1930's the Bureau of Indian Affairs established a government school there and the village grew more. In 1940 the Kameroff family established a general store, post office, coffee shop and barging company in the community. At this time, the community owned and worked a herd of 2,100 reindeer.

During the 1930s, Russian Orthodox practitioners in the village relocated to establish Lower Kalskag, two miles to the southwest. The villagers who remained were primarily Roman Catholic practitioners. The city was incorporated in 1975. As of 2011, Alaska Department of Labor Estimates put Upper Kalskag's population at 219. Subsistence activities remain an important component of the Yup'ik lifestyle. Salmon, moose, rabbit, and waterfowl are the primary resources. A few residents maintain gardens.

Upper Kalskag has had a Roman Catholic flavor since its early days. Baptisms were performed there as early as the 1890's. Catholic Church activity became more regular around 1900 when missionary priests of the Society of Jesus began visiting from Holy Cross Mission. The original church was built there in 1926, and a new one built in 1965. Records indicate that the mission was dedicated at first to the Sacred Heart. As late as 1954 that was the case. However, by 1981 it had been dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and has remained so since. The Society of Jesus continued to serve the Upper Kalskag community, sometimes in residence but more often in visits from other villages, into the 1980's. Since then priestly visits have been made by Diocesan priests, including priests from Poland serving in the Diocese of Fairbanks, and by Franciscan priests.

Since the 1990's, religious sisters have also been an important Catholic presence in the village including Sisters of Notre Dame and Sisters of St. Joseph.

In recent years, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks have been served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, and religious and trained lay staff members. Immaculate Conception is served by ministers of Y-K Subregion B.

The Koyukon Athabaskan Indian village of Kaltag is located on the west bank of the Yukon River, 33 miles southwest of Nulato. It is situated on a 35-foot bluff at the base of the Nulato Hills, at the Yukon River end of the Unalakleet-Kaltag portage.

Kaltag's location at the end of the old portage trail led to the village being used as a cemetery site for surrounding villages. Thus, in Athabaskan tradition the community became a "Stickdance" village. The "Stickdance," or Koyukon Feast for the Dead, is a complex and distinctive series of Athabaskan mourning rituals performed over several days by villagers in memory of their lost loved ones who died during the previous year. The Stickdance ceremony draws visitors from many neighboring villages. This celebration of potlatches and gift giving rituals is sponsored by relatives of the recently deceased, in appreciation of those who helped during their time of mourning.

Kaltag had its roots as one of several fishing camps located on the Yukon River. The camp became a village, and the village became a burial ground when a smallpox epidemic struck the Koyukon in 1839. More disaster came in the era of the gold rush. By 1900, when steamboats were barging prospectors and supplies up and down the Yukon, a measles epidemic struck down a third of the Native population. Kaltag was established shortly thereafter, when survivors from three nearby fishing camps moved there to regroup. The village was named by Russians for the Yukons called "Kaltaga."

Being on a major transportation route, Kaltag witnessed rapid economic change. A post office opened in 1909. Kaltag's first school opened in 1925. But the old cemetery, which was located on Front Street, caved into the river around 1937. Present day Kaltag has a population of about 205 according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates. Subsistence remains an important part of the local economy. Salmon, whitefish, moose, bear, waterfowl, and berries are harvested.

Missionary activity in Kaltag began near the end of the nineteenth century. Catholic baptisms by missionaries from the Society of Jesus were recorded as early as 1890. The first church was built in 1931-32 and replaced by the present church, which was built in 1965-66. Both were dedicated to St. Teresa, the Little Flower.

Priests of the Society of Jesus continued to serve the Kaltag community in residence or by visiting from other villages into the 1980's. Since then Franciscan and Diocesan priests have tended the flock.

Religious sisters have also been an important Catholic presence in the village including Sisters of St. Francis, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, Sisters of St. Joseph and Sisters of Notre Dame.

Kotlik is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located on the east bank of the Kotlik River and on the northern mouth of the Yukon River, 35 miles northeast of Emmonak in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The village got its name from the Yup'ik Eskimo word "kotlik" or “pants” because the river in front of the village has two branches in the shape of a pair of pants.

Prior to the 1960's, Kotlik was a small settlement of only a few families. About that time the channel from Norton Sound to the nearby village of Chaneliak became too shallow for barge traffic, so the residents of Chaneliak moved to Kotlik. In the early 1960's the Bureau of Indian Affairs constructed a school at Kotlik, and residents of three more nearby villages, Hamilton, Bill Moore's Slough and Pastoliak, also moved to Kotlik. By the mid 1960's Kotlik had emerged as one of the larger ports and commercial centers of the lower Yukon. The population, which had fluctuated between 10 and 83 from 1880 to 1960, soared some 300 percent during the 1960's, then continued to grow steadily. The 2011 population, according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, was 601.

Kotlik's economy is seasonal. Fishing, fish processing and trapping are primary income generators. Kotlik's residents rely heavily on subsistence foods, and many families have fish camps on the Yukon River. Salmon, moose, beluga whale, and seal are harvested.

The Kotlik Catholic mission, dedicated to St. Joseph, was first served in the early 1930's by a Jesuit priest out of St. Michael. In the 1930's and 1940's a Kotlik resident collaborated with a Jesuit priest on a monumental undertaking and achievement: the production of idiomatic translations into Central Yup'ik Eskimo of the Catholic Baltimore Catechism, a number of hymns, and texts of Sacred Scripture, the Mass, and the Sacraments.

The old church, which once stood in Chaneliak, was disassembled when the original village was abandoned and reassembled at its present site in the mid-1960's. Priests from the Society of Jesus continued to serve Kotlik in residence or by visits from other villages into the 1980's.

Because of priest shortages, parish administrators and pastoral coordinators have served in recent years to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life. Eskimo deacons often celebrate liturgies at St. Joseph, giving homilies, and assisting with marriages, baptisms and funerals.

Ursuline Religious Sisters, as well as Sisters of St. Francis and School Sisters of Notre Dame have also been an important presence at Saint Joseph.

St. Joseph parish is now served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion A.

Kotzebue is an Inupiat Eskimo village on the northwest shore of the Baldwin Peninsula in Kotzebue Sound 26 miles above the Arctic Circle. Due to its coastal location near a number of rivers, the area was a hub of ancient Arctic trading routes long before the German Lt. Otto Von Kotzebue "discovered" Kotzebue Sound in 1818 for Russia.

The settlement that grew into the village of Kotzebue was originally a summer fish camp. It became a permanent settlement in 1897 when a reindeer station was located there, then was named after the Kotzebue Sound when a post office was established in 1899.

Since the turn of the century, expansion of economic activities and services in the area has enabled Kotzebue to develop rapidly. It is now the largest town in northwest Alaska and serves as a transportation hub for all villages in the northwest region. Due to its location at the confluence of three river drainages, the Kobuk, Noatak, and Selawick Rivers, Kotzebue is the transfer point between ocean and inland shipping. It is also the air transport center for the region. The population has grown from 291 in 1930 to 3,224 in 2011, according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates. Although Catholic priests from the Society of Jesus visited Kotzebue in the late 1800's, it was the Society of Friends (Quakers) that founded the first Christian mission there. They did so in 1899.

Thirty years later, a Jesuit priest and a diocesan priest from Oakland, California, arrived and built Saint Francis Xavier. The year was 1929. On October 12, 1930, both priests were killed in an airplane crash along with pilot Ralph Wien. Kotzebue's state-owned airport was accordingly called the Ralph Wien Memorial Airport. The airplane, dubbed the "Marquette Missionary," had been donated to the Alaska missions by the Marquette League of New York.

The church the deceased priests built --complete with spire and bronze bell--still stands, but has been in need of remodeling from time to time. Finally renovations were done and a large addition added on in the 1960's, thanks in large part to the assistance of lay volunteers from the Jesuit Volunteer Corp.

The Catholic Community of Kotzebue was served by priests of the Society of Jesus, sometimes in residence, often visiting from other villages, into the 1990's. Diocesan priests then took over the task.

In recent years, due to priest shortages, Saint Francis Xavier has been served by parish administrators who have taken charge of the day to day activities of parish life; and by diocesan priests who have visited from Nome and other villages. The parish has also been blessed with the service of the Catholic Sisters of Providence.

Koyukuk, also known as Koyukuk Station, is a Koyukon Athabaskan village located on the Yukon River near the mouth of the Koyukuk River, 30 miles west of Galena, 16 miles northeast of Nulato, and 290 air miles west of Fairbanks. It lies adjacent to the Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge and the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge.

The Koyukon Athabaskan traditionally had spring, summer, fall, and winter camps and moved as the wild game migrated. Koyukuk began as one of a dozen such summer fish camps located on the Yukon River between the Koyukuk and Nowitna Rivers.

A military telegraph line was constructed along the north side of the Yukon around 1867, and Koyukuk became the site of a telegraph station. A trading post opened around 1880, just before the gold rush of 1884-85. The population of Koyukuk peaked around this time at approximately 150. A post office operated from 1898 to 1900. Gold seekers left the Yukon after 1906, but other mining activity, such as the nearby Galena lead mines, began operating in the area in 1919. The post office reopened in 1933, and the first school was constructed in 1939. After the school was built, families began to live at Koyukuk year-round.

The 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates put Koyukuk population at 97. Residents are primarily Koyukon Athabaskans with a subsistence lifestyle. Trapping and beadwork supplement incomes. Subsistence foods include salmon, whitefish, moose, waterfowl, and berries.

Catholic baptisms were recorded in Koyukuk in the late 1800's by missionary priests from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Society of Jesus. The community has never had a resident priest but a church dedicated to St. Patrick was constructed slowly during the years 1958-1962. It was replaced during 1987 and 1988 when the town's old generator building was converted into the new Saint Patrick's church.

Up until 1948, Koyukuk Catholics were served by priests visiting from Nulato. After that priests from Tanana and Galena also began visiting.

Religious Sisters of Notre Dame served faithfully at Saint Patrick parish during the 1980's. They were assisted by Franciscan Friars stationed at that time in Galena. Franciscan brothers, who are still serving in the Interior region, also served in Koyukuk in the 1980's.

Since 1998 St. Patrick's parish has been served by ministry teams out of Galena. Koyukuk is one of several villages in the Interior Region of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks situated on or near the Koyukuk, Kuskokwim, Tanana and Yukon Rivers. These parishes are most often served by parish administrators and other trained lay staff members whose ministry is supported by priests and religious brothers or sisters. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable.

Little Diomede Island lies in the middle of the Bering Strait, a 57-mile-wide channel of water that separates the Asian and North American continents. The Island is one of two rocky crags of land located in the Strait, the other being Big Diomede Island. The islands were named in 1728 by explorer Vitus Bering in honor of Saint Diomede. Big Diomede belongs to Russia, Little Diomede to the United States. Though the two islands are just three miles apart, they are also separated by the International Date Line. Thus, the people of Little Diomede look across the water to Russia, and to tomorrow.

Little Diomede Island is flanked on all but the southwest side by steep cliffs, and is lashed year round by strong winds and waves. Accessibility is limited. There is no airstrip due to steep slopes and rocky terrain. Ski planes land on an ice strip in winter. Few float plane pilots attempt landings on rough, often foggy seas in summer. Semi-regular flights are scheduled from Nome, weather permitting. Ease of access improved with the advent of the helicopter but adverse conditions still strand people on or off of the island for days.

The Island's single village, located on the southwest slope is often noted on maps as "Ignaluk," but is usually referred to simply as Little Diomede. Its population, according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, is 107. It is a traditional Inupiat Eskimo village with a subsistence lifestyle. Walrus, seal, polar bear, blue crab, and whale meat are preferred foods. Seal and walrus hides are used to make parkas, hats, mukluks, furs, and skins for trade. The Diomede people are excellent ivory carvers.

Catholic presence first came to Little Diomede in 1913 when a Jesuit priest visited from Nome. Priests from the Society of Jesus continued serving in the ensuing years. A rustic old house served for liturgies until a church was built and dedicated to St. Jude in 1936. It was replaced when the present St. Jude's was built in 1978. Diocesan priests; and priests of Marians of the Immaculate Conception; and the Eastern Orthodox Rite have also served at St. Jude parish over the years.

Religious sisters have played an important role as well, notably the Little Sisters of Jesus who maintained a residence on the Island from 1954 until 1996. Dominican Sisters; Ursuline Sisters; and Sisters of Saint Joseph have also made extended visits to teach catechism and assist the people with sacramental preparation.

As has been the case for many years, Saint Jude parish is still served by priests visiting from Nome.

Marshall is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village on the bank of the Poltes Slough, north of Arbor Island, on the east bank of the Yukon River in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It lies on the northeastern boundary of the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge.

An expedition came upon an Eskimo village called "Uglovaia" at this site in 1880. Gold was discovered on nearby Wilson Creek in 1913, and a mining camp soon settled in. When a post office was established in 1915, the settlement was called "Fortuna Ledge," reportedly after a relative of postmaster Donald Hunter. Records are unclear as to whether Fortuna was the postmaster's wife, or whether she was the couple's daughter. Some say she was the first child born at the mining camp.

Later, the village came to be commonly called "Marshall's Landing," after Thomas Riley Marshall, Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson from 1913-21. It was incorporated in 1970 as Fortuna Ledge, though still generally referred to as Marshall. The name was officially changed to Marshall in 1984.

Marshall never had a resident priest but Catholic missionary priests from the Society of Jesus began visiting the village soon after it was settled. Visits were infrequent at first but became more regular over the years, and in 1930 building began on the first chapel. Fifteen years later it was finally finished. It was blessed by Bishop Walter J. Fitzgerald, S.J., and dedicated to the Mother of God in 1945. A new church was built in the 1990's. It was blessed by Bishop Michael J. Kaniecki, S.J., and was dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1997.

Over the decades the Catholic community of Marshall has been served by priests of the Society of Jesus, or by Diocesan priests out of Saint Marys, Mountain Village, and Bethel.

Deacons have also played an important role at Immaculate Heart of Mary. Marshall has the distinction of being the first village in the Diocese of Fairbanks where, in 1975, a Native deacon was ordained.

In recent years a lay parishioner has served Immaculate Heart of Mary as a parish administrator to oversee the day to day activities of parish life. Due to priest shortages, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. Immaculate Heart of Mary parish is presently being served by visiting ministers from Y-K Subregion C.

269 miles southwest of Fairbanks in Interior Alaska, the town of McGrath lies adjacent to the Kuskokwim River, directly south of its confluence with the Takotna River. Because of the town's location and accessibility to large river boats it has always served as a transportation, communication and supply hub.

The Old Town site was across the river from McGrath's present setting. It was a seasonal Athabaskan trading and gathering place for residents of Big River, Nikolai, Telida, and Lake Minchumina. In 1904, a trading post was established, and two years later gold was discovered nearby. McGrath quickly grew into a regional supply center. By 1907, a town was established and named for Peter McGrath. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race contributed to McGrath's supply center role. From 1911 to 1920, hundreds of people walked and mushed over the trail on their way to the Ophir gold districts.

The town saw a temporary setback in the 1920's when mining sharply declined. A major flood followed in 1933, after which foresighted residents began moving across the river to the present site. Erosion and changes in the course of the river eventually left the old site on a slough, useless as a river stop. McGrath rebounded on the opposite shore. In 1937, the Alaska Commercial Company opened a store at the new site. In the 1940's, an airstrip was cleared, the FAA built a communications complex, a school was opened, and McGrath once again became an important supply point.

Today McGrath still serves as an economic center for the area; and as a checkpoint for both the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and the Iron Dog Snow Machine Race. Alaska Department of Labor Estimates put McGrath's population at 341 in 2011. Regional employment opportunities are augmented by subsistence lifestyles, which remain an important part of the local culture. Salmon, moose, caribou, bear, and rabbit are favorites.

The earliest known Catholic presence in McGrath was in the 1940's, when it was visited by a priest of the Society of Jesus. He bought a military surplus quonset hut and had it moved near "Aviation Field" and converted into a chapel. The "chapel" was later moved to another location and eventually replaced by the present log church. The new church was dedicated to St. Michael in 1960.

Since its Catholic beginnings, McGrath has had few resident priests, but Jesuit and Diocesan priests have visited it over the years from Bethel, Galena and Fairbanks. St. Michael has also been served by a Xaverian Brother , and by various Orders of Religious Sisters including Sisters of St. Joseph, and Sisters of Notre Dame. Parish administrators currently oversee the day to day activities of parish life. They are supported by visiting ministers from Fairbanks.

Mountain Village lies at the foot of the 500' Azachorok Mountain, the first mountain encountered when traveling up the Yukon River from the coast. It is located on the north bank of the Yukon River, 87 miles upstream from its mouth.

Mountain Village was a summer fish camp until the opening of a general store there in 1908. This prompted residents of Liberty Landing and Johnny's Place to immigrate. A post office was established in 1923, followed by a salmon saltry in 1956 and a cannery in 1964. All three have since closed. The city government was incorporated in 1967. Mountain Village became a regional education center in 1976, when it was selected as headquarters for the Lower Yukon School District.

In 2011, according to the Alaska Department of Labor, the population was 835. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Asa'carsarmiut Tribe. Mountain Village is a Yup'ik Eskimo community with traditional subsistence practices. Subsistence foods relied upon include salmon, moose, and waterfowl. Some residents also trap.

Baptisms were recorded in the region as early as the 1890's by missionary priests of the Society of Jesus. They continued to visit from Pilot Station until finally the first church in Mountain Village was built in 1921, after which priests sometimes resided in the village.

The church at Mountain Village was first dedicated to Saint Barbara but was later rededicated to Saint Lawrence. The original church building was removed and replaced by a new building in 1957. Finally the present church was built in the late 1980's. It was dedicated on August 23, 1987 by Bishop Michael Kaniecki, S.J.

The Catholic community of Mountain Village continued to be served by priests of the Society of Jesus for many years. Religious Sisters have also been an important presence at Saint Lawrence, including Sisters of St. Ann and Sisters of St. Joseph.

In recent years, due to priest shortages, the church was served by parish administrators who saw to the day to day activities of parish life, and by pastoral coordinators who coordinated liturgies, marriages, and baptisms. Both positions however, are currently vacant.

Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, and religious and trained lay staff members. Presently St. Lawrence parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion B.

Nenana is located at the crossroads of the George Parks Highway and the Alaska Railroad and at the confluence of the Nenana and Tanana Rivers. The location is 58 road miles southwest of Fairbanks. The unique setting makes Nenana "a good place to camp between the rivers," a rough translation for the original Athabaskan Indian name for the settlement now known as Nenana.

Like many towns in Alaska, Nenana began as a traditional gathering place for Native Alaskans. Russian traders and explorers arrived in the 1800's, and the discovery of gold in Fairbanks in the early 1900's brought more people. Construction of the Alaska Railroad spurred continued growth and created a crucial transportation link between Fairbanks and the port of Seward. On July 15, 1923 in Nenana, U.S. President Warren G. Harding drove the "golden spike" that signaled the completion of the 471-mile Alaska Railroad.

Modern Nenana has managed to retain its village ties and subsistence lifestyle. The population of 395, according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, is a diverse mix of non-Natives and Athabaskans.

The Catholic community in Nenana has always been small. Society of Jesus priest built a church at Nenana around 1918. The Nenana mission was listed for the first time in The Official Catholic Directory in 1923 as St. Theresa, the name by which it is still known. It is not clear, however, which Theresa was meant. Nenana Catholics have long considered their patroness to be St. Therese of Lisieux, "the Little Flower," whose name is spelled differently, and who was not canonized until 1925. Some say the original patroness may have been St. Theresa of Avila.

The original church burned to the ground on December 19, 1952. Lost in the fire was a pectoral cross handed down from Archbishop Charles Seghers to Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J.. By October 1953, the church was replaced with the present one on the same foundation.

The village of Nenana marks the beginning of a string of tiny parishes along the "rail belt," including the communities of Anderson, Cantwell, Clear Air Force Station, Denali National Park, and Healy. After the Parks Highway opened in the 1970's, most priests serving the rail belt parishes used Saint Theresa as their home base. Later the Healy parish took over the role of rail belt headquarters.

St. Theresa has been served by Jesuit, Dominican and Diocesan priests over the years. Religious Sisters also played an important role, including Dominican Sisters and Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.

Presently, St. Theresa is served by an acting parish administrator who oversees day to day parish life. Priestly visits are made from Healy by a Diocesan priest.

The Central Yup'ik Eskimo village of Newtok is on the Kealavik River, just north of Nelson Island, in the Yukon- Kuskokwim Delta. It was once referred to as "New Keyaluvik" because its people had moved there in the 1940's from Keyaluvik, ten miles away, due to flooding.

The people of Newtok share a heritage with Nelson Island communities; their ancestors have lived on the Bering Sea coast for at least 2,000 years. The people from these communities are known as Qaluyaarmiut or "dip net people," for their fishing skills. Only intermittent outside contact occurred until the 1920s.

A school was built in 1958, although high school students were required to travel to Bethel, St. Mary's, Sitka, or Anchorage for their education. This was often their first exposure to the outside, and students returned with a good knowledge of the English language and culture. A high school was constructed in Newtok in the 1980s. Still, relative isolation from outside influences has enabled the area to retain its traditions and customs, more so than other parts of Alaska. The 2011 population, according to Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, was 370. Villagers have a subsistence lifestyle.
The Catholic faith came to the Keyaluvik people around 1895 when a missionary priest from the Society of Jesus visited the area. It wasn't until the mid-1950's, however, that a church was built in what was by that time Newtok. This burned to the ground in August, 1974. A new church, dedicated to the Holy Family, was blessed by Bishop Robert Whelan, S.J., four years later, July 26, 1978.

Newtok has been served both by visiting and resident Jesuit and Diocesan priests over the years. In the 1970's, Religious Sisters of Providence also visited the village from Fairbanks to assist with the teaching of catechism.

Because of priest shortages, parish administrators have served in recent years to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life. Eskimo deacons often celebrate liturgies at Holy Family, giving homilies, and assisting with marriages, baptisms and funerals. Presently, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, and religious and trained lay staff members. Holy Family is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion D.

Nightmute is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located on Nelson Island in western Alaska in the Yukon- Kuskokwim Delta. Nelson Island has been inhabited by the Qaluyaarmiut ("dip net people") for some 2,000 years. The area was relatively isolated from outside contact and has kept its traditions and culture. The population, according to the Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, was 289 in 2011. Almost all families engage in either commercial or subsistence fishing, and most have fish camps. Commercial fishing permits are for herring roe, salmon drift, and net fisheries. Umkumiut, once an inhabited village site, is now the traditional site of the spring sealing and summer fish camp of the people of Nightmute. 
 

Catholic missionaries were active on Nelson Island as early as 1889, but then for roughly four decades the area was visited only occasionally. Early evangelization of the Nightmute community is credited to lay catechist Simeon Sipary, whose work began in 1929. Called "the sterling catechist," Sipary was credited for the conversion of many Nelson Islanders. He died at Nightmute in 1931.

Also in 1931, a crew arrived on the mission barge, "The Little Flower," with a load of lumber and supplies from the Holy Cross Mission sawmill. The crew included missionary priests from the Society of Jesus and several "big boys," older students from Holy Cross Boarding School. Together they built the first chapel in Nightmute. Later, in 1938, a small living quarters was added. Finally, in 1949, a new church was built and was dedicated under the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

The spiritual needs of the Nightmute community have been tended to by missionary priests of the Society of Jesus and by Diocesan priests. Religious Sisters of St. Ann also ministered at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the 1980's.

Because of priest shortages, parish administrators have served since the 1990's to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life. Deacons often celebrate the liturgies at Nightmute giving homilies, and assisting with marriages, baptisms and funerals.

Presently, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion replace Sunday Mass when priests are unavailable. Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Yukon-Kuskokwim Subregion D.

Nome sits along the Bering Sea on the south coast of the Seward Peninsula facing Norton Sound. The city serves as a supply and transportation center for the Bering Strait region.

Nome is known for being the finish line for the world famous 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, but it was gold that put the city on the map. In 1898 a gold strike on tiny Anvil Creek brought thousands of miners. Almost overnight an isolated stretch of tundra turned into a tent-and-log cabin city of 20,000 people. When the gold-bearing creeks had been almost completely staked, gold was discovered in Nome’s sandy beaches. Immediately thousands of miners descended upon the “golden sands of Nome.”

Eventually Nome’s gold rush heyday ended. The depletion of gold, a major influenza epidemic in 1918, and the Great Depression all led to gradual population decline. Alaska Department of Labor Estimates put Nome’s 2011 population at 3,695. Residents are both non-Natives and Inupiat Eskimos, including former villagers from King Island. Subsistence activities are prevalent.

During the height of the gold rush, missionary priests from the Society of Jesus arrived at the tent city to assess spiritual needs. In 1899 they began gathering a small nucleus of Catholics. The first church was established and dedicated to Saint Joseph in 1901. The church steeple dominated the skyline. It had a large cross with rows of electric lights that were visible for miles. The cross was illuminated each evening at the town’s expense to serve as a beacon for travelers and mushers during dark winter nights and frequent blizzards. Alas, the church had been built on unstable ground. Like many of Nome’s buildings it needed annual re-leveling. By the 1940’s the steeple had started to separate from the main structure and the building had become unsafe. It was sold in 1946 to a mining company who moved it and used it for a warehouse. A new Saint Joseph Church, built two blocks south of the old location, was dedicated on Easter, 1946. Finally the present Saint Joseph was built on the original site. It was dedicated by Bishop Michael Kaniecki, S.J., on March 19, 1994.

Meantime, in 1971, KNOM radio was established. The Catholic radio station has garnered numerous broadcasting awards, and is still on the air.
Religious Sisters also played an important role in Nome, including the Ursuline Sisters; the Little Sisters of Jesus; and the Sisters of Providence, who operated Holy Cross Catholic Hospital (later demolished) from 1902 to 1918.

Priestly service has been provided over the decades by Society of Jesus and Diocesan priests. In recent years, St. Joseph has been served by resident deacons, parish administrators, and pastoral facilitators. A Diocesan priest is St. Joseph’s present pastor.

North Pole - Saint Nicholas Catholic Church Web Site


 

North Pole is renowned as the "home of Santa Claus." Letters from children all over the world are mailed to North Pole at Christmas each year. It began in 1944 when Bon Davis homesteaded the area. A development company later bought the homestead, subdivided it, and named it North Pole. The company had hoped to attract a toy manufacturer that would advertise products made in North Pole. Subsequently the Santa Claus House was developed by Con Miller and his family, and has become a year-round attraction.

The city was incorporated in 1953. Growth from Fairbanks and nearby Eielson Air Force Base has increased development over the years. Catholic presence likewise developed over the years. In the 1950's and 1960's priests from Fairbanks visited North Pole and celebrated Mass in private homes. In the early 1970's, a Sister of St. Ann did much to pull the community together. Using the North Pole Grange Hall as a home base, she coordinated Masses with visiting priests; led Communion Services when no priests were available; and established Bible study and prayer groups. The Grange Hall became a gathering place for the fledgling Catholic community.

On September 28, 1975, Bishop Robert Whelan, S.J., celebrated Mass at the Grange Hall. At that Mass, Bishop Whelan officially established the parish of St. Nicholas at North Pole.

But the parish needed a worship space of its own. Earlier, in the 1960's, the newly established Diocese of Fairbanks had purchased land in North Pole with an eye toward building, but had not been able to do so. Then, in the 1970's, area residents Ken and June Ulz generously donated the parcel of land on which St. Nicholas now sits, and the Diocese sold the land it had bought. In the summer of 1975 a double-wide modular home with a large basement was erected at the site. This served as a temporary church and home for the first pastoral team of St. Nicholas, one Paulist priest and one Paulist seminarian.

Finally, on May 7, 1978, ground-breaking ceremonies took place for the new church building. Much of the construction was done by parishioners and the church was quickly completed. Its Alaskana interior included a beautiful diamond willow cross, a log altar, and a tabernacle styled as an Alaskan cache.

A number of Paulist priests have served at St. Nicholas since its humble beginnings. Later the parish was also served by Franciscan and Diocesan priests. The parish has one deacon who was a founding member of the parish before being ordained to the permanent diaconate. Faithful parish coordinators have also contributed to parish formation. A Diocesan priest is the present pastor.

Nulato was the first Catholic mission in Northern Alaska. It was founded in 1877 by Pioneer Archbishop Charles Seghers. He dedicated it under the title Sancta Maria Ad Nives, "Saint Mary of the Snows," which later came to be called "Our Lady of the Snows." His dream was to make Nulato a permanent home base for central Alaska missions. He was to die for his dream.

The Koyukon Athabaskan village is on the west bank of the Yukon River in Interior Alaska, two miles north of the Nulato River. It was visited by Catholics earlier, in 1873, when Oblate Bishop Isidore Clut made a stop on his way to visit St. Michael downriver. Bishop Seghers, however, (he was not an Archbishop yet), remained at Nulato for a year. He visited other villages, but always came home to Nulato. The Bishop left Alaska in 1778 for what he thought would be a brief period. Eight years later, during which time he had been appointed an Archbishop, he was finally able to set sail again for Alaska.

The arduous journey via the Chilkoot Pass and the upper Yukon took longer than expected. Winter set in, but the Archbishop pushed on towards Nulato with a layman and two Indian guides. The trip proved to be too difficult for the layman, Frank Fuller, who had grown mentally unstable, and unable to deal with the difficulties of arctic travel. On Sunday morning, November 28, 1886, the very day they expected to reach Nulato, Fuller shot and killed Archbishop Seghers. The site is still called "Bishop's Rock."

Nulato remained a center of missionary activity. The year 1887 marked the beginning of many years of uninterrupted Catholic presence, especially for priests of the Society of Jesus who served in Nulato until the mid-1980's; and for the Sisters of St. Ann, who served there from 1899 until the mid-1980's. The Sisters helped open a Catholic school. They also taught English to the local people so successfully that subsequent pastors, unable to speak the Koyukon tongue, could easily communicate with the villagers. Some later missionaries also learned to speak the Koyukon language.

The Franciscan Order took over the spiritual direction of the community in 1986, and Diocesan priests served in the 1990's. Since then, visiting priests have filled in. Presently, the Interior Region of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks contains several parishes in villages situated on or near the Koyukuk, Kuskokwim, Tanana and Yukon Rivers. These parishes are most often served by trained lay staff members whose ministry is supported by priests and religious brothers or sisters. Currently, a Franciscan Brother serves as Pastoral Administrator of this historic mission church, Our Lady of the Snows.

In Yup'ik, Nunam Iqua means "End of the Earth." The Central Yup'ik Eskimo village by that name sits on a bank at the mouth of the south fork of the Yukon River, nine miles south of Alakanuk , in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

In the early 1900's, this village was known by its native name, Nunam Iqua, but in the 1930's it became commonly called Sheldon Point, after a man called Sheldon who operated a fish saltry there. The saltry was later operated by Northern Commercial Company. The United States Census made its first mention of the settlement as Sheldon Point in 1950, and recorded a population of 43. The City of Sheldon Point was formed in 1974, but in 1999 residents voted to change the name back to Nunam Iqua. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Native village of Nunam Iqua. The Alaska Department of Labor estimated a 2011 population of 190. Commercial fishing is the economic foundation of the community. Subsistence activities and trapping supplement income. Salmon, beluga whale, seal, moose, and waterfowl are harvested.

Catholic presence was first noted in 1916 when a missionary priest from the Society of Jesus in a letter to his Provincial, mentioned a stopover in Nunam Iqua due to bad weather. However, there is no more recorded Catholic presence in the village until 1954. At that time a small church was built out of salvaged lumber from another mission in Akulurak. The church was originally dedicated to Saint Mary. In 1983 it was re- dedicated to Saint Peter.

The Nunam Iqua Catholic community was served from Alakanuk by missionary priests of the Society of Jesus until the 1990's. Religious Sisters of Notre Dame and Sisters of St. Dominic from Alakanuk also visited it over the years.

Presently, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, and religious and trained lay staff members. St. Peter Parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Y-K Subregion A.

Pilot Station is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village on the northwest bank of the Yukon River. It lies 11 miles east of St. Mary's, and 26 miles west of Marshall in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

The village was first called "Ankachak" and was later moved one-third mile upriver to a site called "Potiliuk," near an old village site called Kurgpallermuit. This village is a designated historic place as it was occupied during the bow and arrow wars between the Yukon and Coastal Eskimos. According to locals, the Chevak and Pilot Station people periodically fought when the coastal people traveled up the Kashunak River.

In 2011, Alaska Department of Labor Estimates put the population at 583. Some residents hold commercial fishing permits. Incomes are supplemented by subsistence activities. Salmon, moose, bear, porcupine, and waterfowl are harvested.

A Russian Orthodox Church was built in the early 1900s and is one of the oldest structures in the region. Roman Catholic presence began with baptisms in the late 1800's by visiting missionary priests of the Society of Jesus.

In 1914, a Jesuit priest established a formal Catholic parish at Pilot Station. He placed it under the patronage of the Jesuit martyr, Blessed Charles Spinola. A new church was built in 1947 and was blessed under the patronage of St. William in memory of William Thomas Sheppard whose family donated materials for the building. However, Blessed Charles Spinola, often referred to as "Saint" Charles Spinola is the name that "stuck" and that has been the officially recognized patron of the Pilot Station mission. He has, to date, not been canonized. In 1995, the present church was built almost entirely by volunteer labor. It was dedicated on December 10, 1995.

The church at Pilot Station was served by missionary priests of the Society of Jesus from the beginning of one century to the turn of the next. Most visited from Mountain Village, though a few have been in residence. Because of priest shortages since then, the church has been served by parish administrators to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life; by pastoral coordinators; and by Native Deacons. Religious Sisters of Saint Ann and Sisters of Saint Joseph have also been an important presence at Saint Charles Spinola Parish.

Presently, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. St. Charles Spinola is served by visiting ministers of Diocesan Y-K Subregion B.

Ruby is located on the south bank of the Yukon River, in the Kilbuck-Kuskokwim Mountains. It is about 50 air miles east of Galena and 230 air miles west of Fairbanks.

Ruby's residents are Koyukon Athabaskans of the Nowitna-Koyukuk band, a nomadic group who followed game with the changing seasons. Ruby developed as a supply point for gold prospectors. It was named after the red-colored stones found on the riverbank that prospectors thought were rubies. Two gold strikes, one at Ruby Creek in 1907 and another at Long Creek in 1911, attracted hundreds of prospectors to the area, but after the gold rush, the population declined rapidly. A post office was established in 1912, and Ruby incorporated as a city in 1913. In 2011, the Alaska Department of Labor estimated the population to be 173. A federally recognized tribe is located in the community, the Native Village of Ruby. The traditional Athabaskan culture and subsistence practices are the focal point of village life.

Mass was first celebrated in August 1912 by a missionary priest of the Society of Jesus in the home of Mr. Henry Lovely. In September of that year, The priest baptized the first boy born in Ruby. The following month the priest bought a lot with a one story frame building on it, which he converted into a church and priest quarters. Ruby's parish was placed under the patronage of Saint Peter the Apostle. In more recent years the church has been known as Saint Peter in Chains. The makeshift building served until a new church was built in 1948, which has been added onto and adapted considerably over the years.

Ruby has seldom had a priest in residence. It was served by visiting priests, mostly of the Society of Jesus, visiting from other villages, including Tanana, Nulato, Galena, Kaltag and Saint Marys. Diocesan and Columban priests have also visited. Franciscan Fr. Joseph Hemmer, O.F.M., stationed in Kaltag, has visited on a regular basis since 1994 and continues to do so.

The mission has also been served by a Xaverian Brother and by Religious Sisters of various Orders, notably the Sisters of St. Dominic; Sisters of Notre Dame; and Sisters of Providence.

Russian Mission is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located on the west bank of the Yukon River in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, 25 miles southeast of Marshall.

The first Russian American Company fur trading post on the Yukon River was established at the site in 1837. The settlement was recorded as an Eskimo village called "Ikogmiut," meaning "people of the point," in 1842 by the Russian explorer Zagoskin. A Russian Orthodox mission was established 1857, and the village name was changed to Russian Mission in 1900.

The city was incorporated in 1970. The 2011 Alaska Department of Labor population estimate was 303. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community. Russian Mission remains a traditional Yup'ik Eskimo village, with subsistence the focus of the culture. Salmon, moose, black bear, porcupine, rabbit, and waterfowl are among favorite harvests.

Although the village was the site of a Russian Orthodox mission station since the 1850's, Roman Catholic missionaries began visiting the area, out of Akulurak, as early as the 1890's. Later they visited out of Pilot Station, Mountain Village and Bethel.

The Roman Catholic churches at Russian Mission have been dedicated under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. An old log building served as the first church. When the old church was no longer usable, a building on the flood plain was donated to be used for a church. That church however, with its history, was destroyed by a flood in the late 1980's. A new church was completed in 1998 and dedicated in October of that year.

Records since the flood indicate that several priests of the Society of Jesus visited Russian Mission on a regular basis. A Diocesan priest also visited regularly from Bethel between 1974 and 1980.

Religious Sisters have ministered at Our Lady of Guadalupe as well, including Sisters of Saint Ann, and Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Presently, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish is served by visiting ministers of Diocesan Y-K Subregion C.

St. Marys is a Yup'ik Eskimo community on the north bank of the Andreafsky River, 5 miles from its confluence with the Yukon River. The history of the village and the Roman Catholic Church there are inextricably linked.

In 1893, missionary priests from the Society of Jesus set up a mission school at Akulurak, 90 miles downriver from Andreafsky. Akulurak means "in between place," aptly describing the village, which was on an island in a slough connecting two arms of the Yukon River. Sisters of St. Ann staffed the school, but they left in 1898 and the school closed. It reopened in 1905, this time with Ursuline Sisters. The school flourished, partly because diphtheria and influenza epidemics racked the region and left many orphans at the boarding school.

Over the years, the slough surrounding Akulurak silted in severely. In 1948, the missionaries decided to move to higher ground, this time near Andreafsky. Materials from an abandoned hotel built during the gold rush were used to construct the new mission. In 1949, an unused 15' by 30' building and other materials from Galena Air Force Station were barged to Saint Marys. These materials were used to construct a school. The parents of Saint Marys' students, who lived in Akulurak, wanted to be nearer to their children so most of the Akulurak villagers also relocated to the newly founded Saint Marys village. The Jesuit priests and Ursuline Sisters subsequently operated Saint Marys Boarding School until it was closed in 1987. The school was renowned for its excellence as a college prep school for the Alaska Native high school students of the lower Yukon region. It was sold in 2003 to Ciunerkiurvik Corporation.

Meantime, St. Marys school chapel served two separate worshipping communities for two decades, the students of the school, and the residents of the village. The parishioners of Saint Marys felt the need to establish a separate identity as a parish. In 1970, a parish council was established, and plans for the new church began. The new parish, Church of the Nativity, was completed in 1973.

The Church of the Nativity has been served by Jesuits priests since it was first established.

The region remains a hub of missionary activity. From St. Marys, a Jesuit priest and two Franciscan Sisters, along with a small support staff, oversee three vital Diocesan ministry programs that are headquartered there: the Native Ministry Training Program; the Rural Deacon Program; and the Coordination of Rural Ministry for all four Subregions of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

The village of St. Michael is located on St. Michael Island on the south side of Norton Sound. It lies 125 miles southeast of Nome and 48 miles southwest of Unalakleet.

A fortified trading post called "Redoubt St. Michael" was built by the Russian-American Company at this location in 1833. When the Russians left Alaska in 1867, several of the post's traders remained. In 1897, "Fort St. Michael," a United States military post was established there. During the gold rush of 1897, the village was a major gateway to the interior via the Yukon River. The village remained an important trans-shipment point until the Alaska Railroad was built.

St. Michael was also a popular trading post for Eskimos to trade their goods for Western supplies. Centralization of many Yup'iks from the surrounding villages intensified after the measles and influenza epidemics of the early 1900's. The city incorporated in 1969. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Native Village of Saint Michael. The population is largely Yup'ik Eskimo, and numbers 411 as of 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates. Subsistence staples include seal, beluga whale, moose, caribou, fish, and berries.

Catholic presence began in St. Michael when a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, Bishop Isidore Clut, visited there in 1873. In 1877 Bishop Charles Seghers also stopped in St. Michael en route to the middle Yukon. It was Seghers who, in 1886 (by then an Archbishop) was murdered near Nulato. His body was interred in St. Michael cemetery before being disinterred and shipped to Canada in 1888.

Between 1887 and 1899, missionary priests of the Society of Jesus made stops and recorded baptisms in St. Michael, but it was not until 1899 that they established the first mission there. It was dedicated it, appropriately enough, to St. Michael. A church was built in 1900 that was reportedly drafty and difficult to heat, but it was not replaced until 1953. That church too was replaced by the present St. Michael's, which was dedicated by Bishop Donald Kettler in November, 2004.

Many priests served the Catholic community of Saint Michael over the years, most of whom were Jesuits; but the community has also been served by Diocesan and Marian priests, and by visiting missionary priests from Poland. The Ursuline Sisters served at St. Michael in the early 1900's.

In recent years, parish administrators have served to take charge of day to day activities of parish life. Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. St. Michael Parish is presently served by visiting ministers of Diocesan Y-K Subregion A.

In his book, "Alaskana Catholica, A History of the Catholic Church in Alaska," Fr. Louis Renner, S.J., translates the Yup'ik Eskimo name (Marayaaq) for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta village of Scammon Bay as "place near the mudflats," and so it is. Scammon Bay is situated on the south bank of the Kun River, just one mile from the Bering Sea. It lies at the northern base of the 2,342-foot Askinuk Mountains in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The nearby bay was named after Captain Charles Scammon, who served as marine chief of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition from 1856 to 1867.

Modern Scammon Bay has a population of 498, according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates. The village remains a traditional Yup'ik Eskimo community that relies on fishing and subsistence activities. Residents hunt beluga whale, walrus, seal, geese, swans, cranes, ducks, loons and ptarmigan. Fishing yields salmon, whitefish, blackfish, needlefish, herring, humpies, smelt and tomcod. A variety of berries are harvested.

Records show that Scammon Bay was first touched by Roman Catholicism around 1895 when missionary priests from the Society of Jesus visited from Akulurak; but Blessed Sacrament Mission was not founded until 1932 when a small chapel was built. Another small church was built in 1946 and enlarged in 1955. The old, weather-beaten beaten building served the community for over 70 years but came to be in dire disrepair. After much prayer, the old building was torn down in 2007 to make room for a new one. Alas, the building process was fraught with problems including horrendous climatic conditions and lack of funding. Volunteers donated much time and many labors of love, but the going was slow. Goods news came in the fall of 2011 when the Catholic Extension Society approved grant funding to enable completion of the project in the 2012 building season.

Scammon Bay has never had a resident pastor. The parish has been served mostly by missionary priests of the Society of Jesus visiting from Hooper Bay, Kashunuk, Akulurak and Chevak. A Diocesan priest also served at Blessed Sacrament in the late 1980's.

The parish was blessed by the service of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Snows in the 1930's, and more recently by the service of Native Deacons.

Because of priest shortages in recent years, parish administrators have served to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life. Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Blessed Sacrament is presently served by visiting ministers of Diocesan Y-K Subregion C.

Stebbins is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located on the northwest coast of St. Michael Island, on Norton Sound. It lies 8 miles north of St. Michael. The name Stebbins first appeared on maps in 1900.

At one time, reindeer herding was an important part of life in Stebbins. Now the Yup'ik Eskimo village has a commercial fishing and subsistence lifestyle. Harvests include fish, seal, walrus, reindeer, and beluga whale. The first United States Census occurred in 1950, indicating 80 Yup'ik Eskimos. In 2011, the Alaska Department of Labor estimated a population of 585.

The Stebbins mission station was established under the patronage of St. Bernard in 1908 by a missionary priest of the Society of Jesus who visited Stebbins from nearby Saint Michael. In 1911, a Jesuit missionary Brother froze to death, when he was caught by a blizzard between St. Michael and Stebbins. He was making the short trip via dogsled with a load of lumber for a new church at Stebbins, but lost his way in the blinding snow. Early missionaries suffered many hardships and traveled in risky conditions, often encountering unpredictable weather along the coast. Most commuting missionaries, however, arrived at their destinations in safety - and still do.

The original St. Bernard church building was replaced in the middle 1950's. Finally, the present church was built and dedicated by Bishop Donald Kettler in November, 2002.

Throughout most of its existence, Saint Bernard has had few resident priests. Most visiting priests traversed the eight short, sometimes hazardous, miles from Saint Michael. Most were priests of the Society of Jesus, although a Marian priest of the Immaculate Conception also served at Stebbins in the 1990's.

Because of priest shortages, St. Bernard has been served faithfully by parish administrators, who have taken charge of the day to day activities of parish life. Native deacons have also served. Presently, parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta area of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks are served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. St. Bernard is served by visiting ministers of Diocesan Y-K Subregion A.

Owing to its convenient location at the confluence of the Tanana and Yukon Rivers in Interior Alaska, Tanana was once a traditional trading post and seasonal settlement for Koyukon Athabaskan Indians.

In 1880, a commercial trading post, Harper's Station, opened nearby, and more development followed. In 1898, Fort Gibbon was founded to maintain the telegraph line between Fairbanks and Nome. A post office was established, and several other trading posts developed around the turn of the century.

Today, Tanana is still largely an Athabaskan community. Its 2011 population, according to Alaska Department of Labor estimates, was 231. Residents retain many cultural traditions including potlatches, dances, foot races and subsistence lifestyles. Subsistence foods include salmon, whitefish, moose, bear, ptarmigan, waterfowl, and berries.

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate brought the first Catholic presence to Tanana. In 1862, Oblate Fr. Jean Seguin arrived and stayed at Tanana for a year. Oblate Bishop Isidore Clut visited 10 years later. Then, in 1878, came Bishop Charles Seghers (he would later be appointed an Archbishop, in 1880; and would later be murdered near Nulato, 1886); who would later be called "the founder of the Alaska missions."

In 1887 missionary priests of the Society of Jesus became active in the region. A Jesuit priest for whose patron saint the mission is named, was stationed at Tanana in 1887-88; then again in 1904-06. In 1904 he bought a small house, with a small annex, which served as a small residence, and a small chapel. St. Aloysius was founded.

A number of priests visited St. Aloysius over the years, usually out of Galena, Nulato or Fairbanks. Most were Jesuits, though Diocesan clergy have also served the parish; as has a Xaverian Brother.

Religious Sisters maintained a strong Catholic presence in Tanana for many years. Ursuline Sisters ministered in residence there from 1968 to 96, serving St. Aloysius in various capacities. Sisters of Providence from Fairbanks taught catechism courses at St. Aloysius during the summers of 1963-72.

Presently, parishioner Lois Huntington serves as parish administrator of St. Aloysius; a Franciscan Brother serves as pastoral minister, visiting from his home base in Galena. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable.

Teller - Saint Ann Catholic Church Web Site

Teller is located on a sand spit of the Seward Peninsula between Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor, 75 miles northwest of Nome. The Teller site was a traditional Inupiat Eskimo fishing camp called "Nook" in 1827. When a Western Union Telegraph expedition wintered there in 1866, it was called “Libby Station.” When the United States Government operated a reindeer station there from 1892 to 1900, it was called Teller Station, after U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior, Henry Moore Teller. Teller became the name that stuck.

In 1900, after the Bluestone Placer Mine discovery 15 miles to the south, Teller became for a time a boom town trading center for miners, and for Inupiat Eskimos from Diomede, Wales, Marys Igloo, and King Island. In 1918, an influenza epidemic ravaged the community and claimed many lives among the Inupiat people.

Teller made international weather history on May 13, 1926, when the Italian dirigible, the "Norge," on a flight from Norway across the North Pole to Nome, had to land at Teller due to inclement conditions.

Teller today is a traditional Inupiat village with a population, as of 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates, of 245. Lifestyles are based on subsistence activities supplemented by part-time wage earnings. Fish, seal, moose, beluga whale, and reindeer are primary meat sources. A herd of over 1,000 reindeer roam the region, and the annual round-up provides meat and a cash product that is sold mainly on the Seward Peninsula. Approximately one-third of households produce crafts or artwork for sale, and some residents trap fox.

For most of its history, the Teller Catholic community was served by missionary priests, visiting usually from Nome, but sometimes from Marys Igloo, Pilgrim Hot Springs, and Little Diomede. Most visiting clergy were Jesuits, though Diocesan priests also served.

Catholic presence came to Teller in 1902 when a Jesuit priest visited from Nome. Others followed suit, and a semi-permanent residence and church was established in the early 1900's. In the early 1960's, another building began to be used as the church; and the original building became "Saint Ann's Catholic Church Youth Center." Interestingly, the Teller Mission of the early 1940's was known as "Saint Emma's Catholic Mission." Records are unclear when the mission changed names from Saint Emma to Saint Ann.

Saint Ann Parish is currently served by a visiting pastor from Nome.

Tok, "The Gateway to Alaska," is the first major community on entering Alaska from the Canadian border, 93 miles to the east. It is located at the crossroads of the Alaskan Highway and the Tok cutoff to the Glenn Highway, 206 miles south of Fairbanks. Tok, pronounced "Toke" (rhymes with "poke"), takes its name from the nearby Tok River, which was known by surveyors in 1887 as the "Tokai River."

Tok began as an Alaska Road Commission camp in 1942. So much money was spent on the camp's construction and upkeep that the highway crew called it the "Million Dollar Camp." In 1946, the Alcan Highway was completed, a post office and roadhouse were built, and the town of Tok was established.

In July, 1990, Tok faced a trial by fire when a lightning-caused forest fire jumped two rivers and the Alaskan Highway, putting the whole town in its blazing path. Tok was evacuated while over a thousand firefighters fought the blaze, but they could not stop the fire. At the last second a "miracle wind" (so labeled by Tok residents) came up, diverting the fire just short of the first building.

The region was traditionally Athabaskan when Tok was founded, but its current population (1,271 according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates), is a multi-cultural mix. Subsistence remains a prevalent lifestyle. Moose, bear, rabbit, grouse, and ptarmigan are taken. Salmon are caught in the Copper River to the south.

In September 1949, thirteen years before northern Alaska became the Diocese of Fairbanks, a missionary priest of the Society of Jesus arrived in Tok. Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J., then Vicar Apostolic of Alaska, assigned the priest the tasks of building a chapel and bringing priestly ministry to the region. While living in his truck, he built a crude 8x10 cabin for shelter the winter of 1949-50. When winter broke, he began building the 20x40 foot log chapel that still stands as part of Tok's Holy Rosary Church. Midnight Mass of 1950 was the first liturgy celebrated at the small church, which has since been enlarged. The priest served the Tok community until 1954. A number of missionary priests have served since, some in residence, most visiting from Copper Valley or Delta Junction. They have included Jesuit, Benedictine, Diocesan, Dominican, and Franciscan priests. A deacon, who was a Holy Rosary parishioner before being ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1986, also served the parish.

Religious Sisters who helped preserve a strong Catholic presence in Tok include Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and Sisters of St. Joseph. A Sister of St. Joseph presently serves as Pastoral Administrator of Holy Rosary. A Diocesan priest visits from Delta Junction.

Tok, "The Gateway to Alaska," is the first major community on entering Alaska from the Canadian border, 93 miles to the east. It is located at the crossroads of the Alaskan Highway and the Tok cutoff to the Glenn Highway, 206 miles south of Fairbanks. Tok, pronounced "Toke" (rhymes with "poke"), takes its name from the nearby Tok River, which was known by surveyors in 1887 as the "Tokai River."

Tok began as an Alaska Road Commission camp in 1942. So much money was spent on the camp's construction and upkeep that the highway crew called it the "Million Dollar Camp." In 1946, the Alcan Highway was completed, a post office and roadhouse were built, and the town of Tok was established.

In July, 1990, Tok faced a trial by fire when a lightning-caused forest fire jumped two rivers and the Alaskan Highway, putting the whole town in its blazing path. Tok was evacuated while over a thousand firefighters fought the blaze, but they could not stop the fire. At the last second a "miracle wind" (so labeled by Tok residents) came up, diverting the fire just short of the first building.

The region was traditionally Athabaskan when Tok was founded, but its current population (1,271 according to 2011 Alaska Department of Labor Estimates), is a multi-cultural mix. Subsistence remains a prevalent lifestyle. Moose, bear, rabbit, grouse, and ptarmigan are taken. Salmon are caught in the Copper River to the south.

In September 1949, thirteen years before northern Alaska became the Diocese of Fairbanks, a missionary priest of the Society of Jesus arrived in Tok. Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J., then Vicar Apostolic of Alaska, assigned the priest the tasks of building a chapel and bringing priestly ministry to the region. While living in his truck, he built a crude 8x10 cabin for shelter the winter of 1949-50. When winter broke, he began building the 20x40 foot log chapel that still stands as part of Tok's Holy Rosary Church. Midnight Mass of 1950 was the first liturgy celebrated at the small church, which has since been enlarged. The priest served the Tok community until 1954. A number of missionary priests have served since, some in residence, most visiting from Copper Valley or Delta Junction. They have included Jesuit, Benedictine, Diocesan, Dominican, and Franciscan priests. A deacon, who was a Holy Rosary parishioner before being ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1986, also served the parish.

Religious Sisters who helped preserve a strong Catholic presence in Tok include Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and Sisters of St. Joseph. A Sister of St. Joseph presently serves as Pastoral Administrator of Holy Rosary. A Diocesan priest visits from Delta Junction.

The traditional Yup'ik Eskimo village of Toksook Bay is located on Nelson Island, 6.5 miles southeast of Tununak, in the Yukon- Kuskokwim Delta.

The village was established in 1964 when a number of younger couples from Nightmute moved to the new location at Toksook Bay to be more accessible to the annual freighter ship, the North Star. Families from Tununak and Newtok joined them and the settlement grew. The city was incorporated in 1972. As of 2011, the Alaska Department of Labor estimated its population at 598. A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Nunakauyarmiut Tribe. Commercial fishing and subsistence activities supplement income and provide essential food sources. Herring roe, salmon and halibut are favorite harvests.

Toksook Bay has been a largely Catholic community since it began, many of its founders having moved there from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Nightmute. The original Toksook Bay church was built in 1966 and was dedicated to Saint Peter the Fisherman. A residence and classroom were later added. The parish was served by missionary priests of the Society of Jesus into the 1990's. A Dominican Sister was a major influence in the preparation of catechists at St. Peter the Fisherman from 1978-87.

In recent years, parish administrators and pastoral coordinators have served to take charge of the day to day activities of parish life. A parishioner serves as both administrator and coordinator at present. Native deacons have also played an important role in the parish, and continue to do so, assisting as needed with liturgies, baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are now served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. St. Peter the Fisherman Parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Y-K Subregion D.

Tununak is a Central Yup'ik Eskimo village located in a small bay on the northwest coast of Nelson Island, which lies on the Bering Sea coast in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community, the Native Village of Tununak. The community was incorporated as a city in 1975, but it was dissolved in 1997 in favor of traditional council governance. The Alaska Department of Labor estimated Tununak population at 342 in 2011. It remains a traditional Yup'ik Eskimo village, with an active fishing and subsistence lifestyle. Seal meat, seal oil, and herring are the staples of the diet. Beluga whale and walrus are also hunted. Residents participate in a lottery to hunt musk-ox on Nelson or Nunivak Islands.

Tununak is the site of the first Catholic mission among the Central Yup'ik Eskimos. In 1889, missionary priests of the Society of Jesus opened a small chapel and school, built out of driftwood and sod. The parish was dedicated at first to Saint Alphonsus, then, a few years later, to St. Joseph.

After one year, there was recorded the baptisms of 43 adults and 128 children. However, after three years, because the island was so difficult to access, the school was closed and Tununak ceased to have a resident missionary for many years. Nevertheless, priests continued occasional visits from Akulurak. In 1927 another priest stayed on the island for a year. He put up a small cabin that served as both a residence and church for many years. Finally, another Jesuit priest took up station at Tununak and stayed from 1934 to 1962. His long-standing relationship and work with the Yup'ik people had a great influence.

Missionary efforts on Nelson Island proved most rewarding, when Native catechists began to participate in parish work, especially when the priests were traveling between villages. One such early catechist served St. Joseph in the 1930's and also oversaw the building of a new church. It was replaced in the 1960's, and updated in the 1980's. Native deacons also served at Saint Joseph since the 1980's. A Dominican Sister helped prepare catechists from 1978-87. Also during the 1970's a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, operated a Montessori School at Tununak.

Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are now served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. St. Joseph Parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Y-K Subregion D.

The Inupiat Eskimo village of Unalakleet is located on Norton Sound at the mouth of the Unalakleet River, 148 miles southeast of Nome. It is an ancient settlement and has long been a major trade center as the terminus for the Kaltag Portage, an important winter travel route connecting to the Yukon River.

The Russian-American Company built a post at Unalakleet in the 1830s. In 1898, reindeer herders from Lapland were brought to Unalakleet to establish sound herding practices. In 1901, the United States Army Signal Corps built over 600 miles of telegraph line from St. Michael to Unalakleet, over the portage to Kaltag and Fort Gibbon. The city was incorporated in 1974.

As of 2011, according to Alaska Department of Labor estimates, Unalakleet's population was 692. The village has a history of diverse cultures and trade activity. The inhabitants, though mainly Inupiat Eskimos, include a mix of Yup'ik Eskimos and Athabaskan Indians. Both commercial fishing for herring and herring roe and subsistence activities are major components of Unalakleet's economy. Fish, seal, caribou, moose, and bear are favorite harvests.

Catholic presence began in Unalakleet as early as 1910, when the village was visited from St. Michael by a missionary priest of the Society of Jesus. Missionaries continued to visit afterwards; most came to Unalakleet from Nome, Kaltag or Saint Michael. In 1952, a small cabin-church was built and dedicated under the patronage of the Holy Angels. It was replaced by a new "Church of the Holy Angels" in 1994.

The Catholic presence in Unalakleet has never been large, as the village has for generations been a stronghold of the Swedish Covenant Church.

Parishes in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are now served on a rotating schedule by ministry teams which may include priests, deacons, religious and trained lay staff members. Celebrations of the Word with Holy Communion may replace Sunday Mass when a priest is unavailable. Holy Angels Parish is served by visiting priests and ministers from the Diocesan Y-K Subregion A.