Eyak is located on the Copper River highway, about 5.5 miles of Cordova (Alaska), in the Malaspina Coastal Plain. In 1992, it was annexed to the City of Cordova and was an area that was considered to be the Native Village of Eyak. In 1869, Lt. Comdr. Moser, of the USN, first reported the Eyak as the “Hyaks,” an Aleut village and in 1880 as “Ihiak.” The area has historically been the home to the Aleuts, with the addition of migrating Athabascan and Tlingit natives who called themselves Eyak (Manchee and McLean 1)
The Eyaks were never a very large group and as time went by, they found themselves between two conflicting groups, The Chugach Eskimo and Tlingit. The Eyaks had a language more related to the Tlingit, which created a predisposition for friendly interaction and with the Chugach, they were less friendly. As the Eyaks migrated, they come into contact with the Chugach who moved north in the response to the pressure from the Tlingit expansion from the south. Disease and the abuse by cannery workers lead to the relocation of the Eyak. Rather than fighting and risking the small amount of men they have, the group either moved on or became assimilated. This could have been the reason why their groups were so small. The avoidance of war and aggressive conflict was one of the Eyaks’ historic strategies.
The rural villages of Alaska are often flooded, causing severe environmental problems for the people of this area. In October of 1997, Kate Williams, the Native Village of Eyaks, began its Environmental Program with the funding of the IGAP. Their main goal was to develop a community-based solution to address environmental problems. The program stated that "there were many community issues surrounding the environment, solid waste and water quality projects were moving forward through the City of Cordova with little or no input from community and tribal members, and communication with outside agencies centered around 'us vs. them'" confrontations (Williams 2). The group began to work on their goal and got many communities and people involve in the environmental issues and concerns of the rural area of Alaska.
In September of 1998, the Eyak Environmental Program was under way and began a survey in gathering the most important environment problems for the area. The number one concern was the drinking water. The Eyak Tribal Water Quality Program began testing the Eyak Lake water quality, but little progress has been made on the water quality of the Eyak. Water quality testing equipment has been purchased to be tested collected water samples. Other members of the group have organized volunteers to help in conducting the water samples.
The tribe will continue the program into the year 2000. There goals for the future include the development of a tribal environmental intern program with high school students, future expansion of the Eyak Tribal Water Quality Program, enhanced involvement to the Eyak Environmental Committee, and a public education campaign on environmental issues and pollution control and prevention.
Written By: Suong Su
Manchee and McLean, “Eyak Alaska.” I Love Alaska. (1 Dec. 1999)
http://www.ilovealaska.com/alaska/Eyak 12 Dec. 1999.
“Eyak Culture.” Native Cultures of Alaska. (1 Dec. 1999)
http://www.y2know.org/safari/native/cultures/ 12 Dec. 1999.
Williams, Kate. “Eyak’s Environmental Picks Up Speed…” (1 Dec. 1999)
http://www.aitc.org/eyak.html12 Dec. 1999.