Telida (''Tilaya-di'' or ''Tilayadi’'' in
Upper Kuskokwim) is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
located in the
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
.
At the
2010 census the population was 3, unchanged from 2000.
Geography
Telida is located at 63.3832623N, 153.2803835W,
on the south side of the Swift Fork (McKinley Fork) of the
Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River ( Yupʼik: ''Kusquqvak''; Deg Xinag: ''Digenegh''; Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanekʼ''; (''Kuskokvim'')) is a river, long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the Unit ...
, about by air northeast of
McGrath
McGrath or MacGrath derives from the Irish surname Mac Craith and is occasionally noted with a space: e.g. Izzy Mc Grath. In Ireland, it is pronounced "Mack Grah" "Mick Grah" or "Ma Grah". In Australia and New Zealand it is pronounced ''MuhGrah''.
...
.
The word ''Telida'' means 'whitefish' in the
Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan language.
History
Athabascan
Athabaskan ( ; also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large branch of the Na-Dene language family of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, ...
folklore says that Telida's residents are descended from two sisters, survivors of an attack by another Athabascan group, who fled from the McKinley area to
Telida Lake where they discovered whitefish at its outlet. The women were later discovered by stragglers from the attacking party, who married the women and settled at the lake. The village of Telida is named after the lake.
The village has been located in three different places. The first village was located about upstream from present-day Telida. It was first visited by United States army explorers in 1899. When the Swift Fork changed course, the village was moved what is now called "Old Telida." In 1916, some residents moved to the present day site, "New Telida," about downstream from Old Telida. A
Russian Orthodox
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
church, St. Basil the Great, was built in Old Telida in 1918. A roadhouse was also built during this period. In 1920-21, Old Telida was a stopping point on the trail between McGrath and
Nenana and hundreds of people used the roadhouse. In 1935, Old Telida flooded and the remaining residents relocated to New Telida.
In 1958, a fire burned an area in which the villagers constructed an airstrip. Many families moved to
Takotna during the school year and lived in Telida only during summer months. A school was built in Telida in the 1970s, but the population has declined to almost nothing since.
Demographics
Telida first appeared on the 1980 U.S. Census as a census-designated place (CDP). In 1990, it lost that designation and was reclassified as an unincorporated Alaskan Native Village Statistical Area (ANVSA).
Transportation
Telida Airport (IATA: TLF, FAA: 2K5) is a public use
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...
serving Telida.
Education
It was previously served by the Telida School of the
Iditarod Area School District
Iditarod Area School District (IASD) is a school district headquartered in McGrath, Alaska, United States.
Schools
All are K-12 schools:
* Blackwell School - Anvik
* David Louis Memorial School - Grayling
* Holy Cross School
* McGrath Sch ...
.
The ''Telida Current'' began publication after the school received a copy machine. It was later published using the
Quill, software for literacy
''Quill'' is a suite of software tools. It was published by D.C. Heath and Company, in Lexington, MA, USA.
The Quill software was designed and developed in 1982-84 by a team led by Bertram Bruce and Andee Rubin. Its purpose was to help in the c ...
[Bertram, Bruce C. and Andee Rubin. ''Electronic Quills: A Situated Evaluation of Using Computers for Writing in Classrooms''. ]Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, November 5, 2013. , 9781136690563. p
100
References
External links
* - Revised January 2004
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Alaska
Unincorporated communities in Unorganized Borough, Alaska
Unincorporated communities in Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska