Point Hope, Alaska

For the landhead, see Point Hope (cape), Alaska.

Point Hope, Alaska
City
Location of Point Hope, Alaska
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Borough	North Slope
Area
• Total	6.4 sq mi (16.6 km2)
• Land	6.3 sq mi (16.4 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Elevation	7 ft (2 m)
Population  (2007)
• Total	668
• Density	119.4/sq mi (46.1/km2)
Time zone	UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-8 (AKDT)
Area code	907
FIPS code	02-61630

Point Hope is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 757.

Geography

Point Hope town is located in the Point Hope landhead, at the NW end of the Lisburne Peninsula, on the Chukchi Sea coast, 40 mi. SW of Cape Lisburne, Arctic Slope at 68°20′49″N 166°45′47″W (68.347052, -166.762917)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.4 square miles (16.6 km²), of which, 6.3 square miles (16.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.09%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 757 people, 186 households, and 151 families residing in the city. The population density was 119.4 people per square mile (46.1/km²). There were 215 housing units at an average density of 33.9/sq mi (13.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 8.72% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 87.05% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 3.83% from two or more races. 1.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 186 households out of which 54.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% were married couples living together, 19.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% were non-families. 13.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.07 and the average family size was 4.50.

In the city the population was spread out with 42.5% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 14.7% from 45 to 64, and 5.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females there were 122.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $63,125, and the median income for a family was $66,250. Males had a median income of $41,750 versus $35,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,641. About 13.9% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.3% of those under age 18 and 16.2% of those age 65 or over.

History

A pile of whale bones in Point Hope where celebrations are held at the conclusion of the whaling season

The descriptive Inuit name of the place, "Tikarakh" or "Tikigaq" commonly spelled "Tiagara," means "forefinger". It was recorded as "Tiekagagmiut" in 1861 by P. Tikhmeniev Wich of the Russian Hydrographic Department and on Russian Chart 1495 it became "Tiekaga". This ancient village site was advantageous, because the protrusion of Point Hope into the sea brought the whales close to the shore.

The first recorded Europeans to sight this cape were Russian explorers Mikhail Vasiliev and Gleb Shishmaryov of the Imperial Russian Navy on ships Otkrietie and Blagonamierennie. Vasiliev and Shishmaryov named this landhead Mys Golovnina, after Vice Admiral Vasily Golovnin (1776-1831).

The cape at Point Hope was renamed by Captain Frederick William Beechey of the Royal Navy, who wrote in August 2, 1826: "I named it Point Hope in compliment to Sir William Johnstone Hope". According to Archdeacon Stuck (1920, p. 96) Hope was from a "well-known house long connected with the sea".

Point Hope residents successfully opposed Operation Chariot (1958), which would have involved atmospheric thermonuclear detonations some 30 miles from the village.

Native people

Main article: Tikigaq