Kipnuk resident Rayna Paul fought back tears as she talked about how the remnants of Typhoon Halong ravaged her village — and why relocating is so important for the next generation.
“We want them to have a livable life too,” she said, and then continued in Yup’ik, “Safe-alriamek cucuklirarkaugukut relocate-ararkaukumta,” which means, “We have to pick land that is safe if we are to re-locate.”
Paul joined more than 50 Kipnuk residents at a meeting on Saturday to begin discussing the future of their village after last fall’s powerful storm destroyed homes, contaminated water and forced nearly everyone to leave. Now the residents face a critical decision: rebuild in the same spot or move to higher ground?
Kipnuk Village Council President Daniel Paul said the community is divided.
“I had many calls from our tribal members, half of them wanna stay, half wanna go,” he said. “Relocation decision will be upon my tribal members, their votes and their voice inputs.”
Kipnuk is about four miles inland from the Bering Sea coast and was once home to about 700 people. Most remain evacuated in Anchorage or Bethel, except for a group of roughly 100 residents who are back in the village working to rebuild. There’s a lot to do. The storm demolished about 150 homes, damaged boardwalks, disturbed gravesites and left lands and water contaminated with spilled oil and other hazardous materials.
On Saturday, the community began discussing its future.
Sheryl Musgrove, who directs the climate justice program under the Alaska Institute for Justice, told residents that it’s up to them to decide whether to relocate.
“It's a decision of the community alone,” she said. “No one can force you to move, but then again, others can't force people to stay there either.”
Residents spoke predominantly in Yup’ik, asking what relocation could look like. Some asked about how to choose a new site and secure land ownership.
“Who is dealing with the land?” Larry Kalistook asked. “Is anyone dealing with the land?”
Others pondered what it would take to set up critical infrastructure in a new place. Village Council Vice President Chris Alexie said figuring out a school, an airport and a health clinic would be a start.
“Those are the most important things, and water and sewer systems also,” Alexie said. “It's not going to be easy but we're going to deal with this.”
Alexie said that working through the relocation process could take years.
For Newtok, it took decades and well over $100 million. In Kwigillingok, the other village hit hardest by the storm, residents have already voted to move. But it’s unclear when it will happen and how much it will cost.
If Kipnuk decides to relocate, one potential option is going to Cheeching, a historical settlement on higher ground between Kipnuk and Chefornak. It’s now owned by Chefornak’s Chefarnmute Corporation.
The corporation’s vice president, Larry Kairauiuak, said Chefornak itself relocated back in the 1950s — and he thinks that’s why it didn't suffer more damage in the storms.
“If the elders at that time had not decided to move to our current location, we would have been in the same situation as Kipnuk with the typhoon,” he said. “We're grateful for our leaders at that moment to move to higher ground.”
Kairauiuak said his village is open to a conversation about helping Kipnuk, and the corporation will hold a meeting with shareholders on March 7.
“We have a lot of families from not just Kipnuk but in Kwig, Tuntutuliak, Kong, Nightmute,” he said. “Our community is receptive to hear what they have to say.”
Kairauiuak said residents from many villages in the region have family ties to Cheeching, so that’s why it’s important for Chefornak residents to have a chance to weigh in on the future of that land.
Kipnuk elder David Carl said he remembers growing up Cheeching — his family called it “rock mountain.” It’s about 10 miles from Kipnuk and he supports moving there because he said the ground is more stable.
“They will make a wise decision if they relocate to the site right there,” he said. “Being an elder, we're not thinking about ourselves, who we are now, we just want to fight for our upcoming generations.”
But for Daniel Paul, Kipnuk is home and he hopes to live there again one day.
“For me, I'm gonna stick with Kipnuk, regardless of how the situation is,” he said. “I was raised there, and I'll stay there.”
Paul said discussions will continue and residents have a lot of factors to weigh. But Kipnuk leaders also feel a sense of urgency. He said the village expects only one substantial influx of federal funding. To make the best use of it, he said, they need to decide soon whether they want to stay or move.
Editor’s note: KYUK's Julia Jimmie provided Yup'ik translations for this story.
