As part of their Natural History of Alaska class, the Ellikarrmiut Summer Science students have been participating in a limited (but very productive) dig on the site of an old kiiyaq, or men’s house. Exciting artifacts from the dig could eventually prove that humans have been inhabiting and using Nunivak Island and the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta for much longer than has previously been proven.

It turns out that our camp here at Nash Harbor isn’t at the site called Ellikarrmiut at all. That village site sits on a spit of land just across the river, while we’re camped on the site of a different, higher village called Qimugglugpagmiut (loosely translated as “people of Big Bad Dog”). Oral tradition maintained that Ellikarrmiut was the older village, and an earlier dig at Nash Harbor focused almost exclusively on that side of the river. However, two afternoons of a tightly focused and supervised student dig at the Qimugglugpagmiut kiiyaq have already turned up artifacts very likely to prove older than anything found during two summers of digs across the river.

The kiiyaq was used and inhabited during the twentieth century; Joe David, our camp elder-in-residence, remembers taking fire baths and sleeping there. However, it is rapidly becoming apparent that the kiiyaq was built on the foundations of structures thousands of years old.

The most exciting finds so far have been exquisitely chipped, tiny projectile points and side-blades (microlithics????) that could be early indicators of a site from the Arctic Small Tool (AST) tradition. AST peoples took advantage of a warming trend and melting ice sheets to spread rapidly across the Arctic from probable origins in Siberia around 4500 years ago. These highly mobile and adaptible people probably followed rapidly expanding populations of game animals like caribou.

Allowing for students to complete testing for Information Technology certificates in their own Bethel hub community.

KuC Summer Science Program - The Ellkarmiut Summer Science Field Camp is one of the programs offered to encourage Y-K Delta high school juniors and seniors to consider education and careers in Science and Technology.

The camp is located in a remarkable wilderness environment on the shores of the Bering Sea’s Nunivak Island. The camp provides a learning environment that is a hands-on and adventure-based.

Students can earn six college credits if upon successful completion of the course of study as well as winning stipends and other incentives based on performance in the course. The program instructors are Dr. Rick Knecht and Skip Snaith. Courses offered include Biology, Field Videography and Anthropology.

The development of the facility has spurred economic development activities within the local Native community of Mekoryuk inciting business, local jobs as well as training for young people in the community.

Link to the Alaska Journal of Commerce Article

Link to economic development project as part of Summer Science field station.

KuC Talent Search Program - Recruitment – KuC hosts over 200 students at the Bethel Campus each summer. Students participate in career and academic pathway exploration as well healthy lifestyle activities. Advanced students participate in Rocket Science curricula with TCUP faculty; instructors Dan Solie and Bob Brown.

These students are nutured and hopefully leave the campus with a positive ‘first’ college experience.  Watch as Drs. Brown and Solie nurture our students through their first ’serious’ rocket experience.

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ANSEP Pre-college Program –targeting local high school juniors. All participating students are required to contract with us to enroll and successfully complete chemistry, physics, and trigonometry. In the lab, juniors assemble the computers and learn to use AutoCAD, MS Office, and other appropriate software. These software tools are needed within our industrial partner organizations. Instructor mentor is Martin Leonard III, Matt Calhoun and Dennis Deshion.

Students completing the program have priority access to other ANSEP core activities like the Bridging Program. Most students live up to their contracts and you will find many of these students performing to top standards at Pacific Alliance Campuses.