The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River (
Yupʼik
The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik (Central Alaskan Yupʼik language, own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian language, Russian: Юп� ...
: ''Kusquqvak'';
Deg Xinag
Deg Xinag (Deg Hitan) is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by the Deg Hitʼan peoples of the GASH region. The GASH region consists of the villages of Grayling, Anvik, Shageluk, and Holy Cross along the lower Yukon River in Interior Alask ...
: ''Digenegh'';
Upper Kuskokwim: ''Dichinanekʼ''; (''Kuskokvim'')
) is a river, long, in
Southwest Alaska
Southwest Alaska is a region of the U.S. state of Alaska. The area is not exactly defined by any governmental administrative region(s); nor does it always have a clear geographic boundary.
Geography
Southwest Alaska includes a huge swath of terr ...
in the United States.
It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average
discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.
The Kuskokwim River is the longest river system contained entirely within a single U.S. state.
The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the remote
Alaska Interior
Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and ...
on the north and west side of the
Alaska Range
The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, mountain range in the Southcentral Alaska, southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoard on G ...
, flowing southwest into
Kuskokwim Bay
Kuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern 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 ...
on the
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...
. The highest point in its watershed is
Mount Russell. Except for its headwaters in the mountains, the river is broad and flat for its entire course, making it a useful transportation route for many types of watercraft, as well as road vehicles
during the winter when it is frozen over. It is the longest free flowing river in the United States.
''Kuskokwim'' derives from the relative case form of Kusquqvak ''Kusquqviim'', as used in ''Kusquqviim painga'' (the mouth of the Kuskokwim).
The
Indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of the Kuskokwim river region are
Yupʼik peoples on the lower Kuskokwim,
Deg Xitʼan
Deg Hitʼan () (also Deg Xitʼan, Deg Hitan, Degexitʼan, Kaiyuhkhotana, ) is a group of Athabaskan peoples in Alaska. Their native language is called Deg Xinag. They reside in Alaska along the Anvik River in Anvik, along the Innoko River in ...
on the middle Kuskokwim,
Upper Kuskokwim people
The Upper Kuskokwim people or Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskans, Upper Kuskokwim Athabascans ( own native name ), and historically Kolchan, Goltsan, Tundra Kolosh, and McGrath Ingalik are an Alaskan Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolin ...
on the upper Kuskokwim, and
Koyukon people
The Koyukon, Dinaa, or Denaa ( Denaakk'e: ''Tl’eeyegge Hut’aane'') are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they su ...
on the North Fork,
Lake Minchumina.
Name
The river's name ''Kuskokwim'' derives from the relative case form of Kusquqvak ''Kusquqviim'', as used in ''Kusquqviim painga'' (the mouth of the Kuskokwim). The name was first recorded by a Russian sailor in 1826.
[Bright, p. 243] The
Tanana (Athabaskan) name for the river was ''Chin-ana''.
''
Upper Kuskokwim'' (Kolchan) is often used to mean the people of the upper parts of the river, while
Yup'ik people
The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik ( own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian: Юпики центральной Аляски), are an ...
live along the lower river.
Course
The river is formed by the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
of East Fork Kuskokwim River and North Fork Kuskokwim River, east of
Medfra
Medfra is an unincorporated community located in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. It has no permanent residential population at present.
Geography
Medfra is located on the north bank of the Kuskokwim River, about b ...
. From there it flows southwest to
Kuskokwim Bay
Kuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern 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 ...
and the
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...
.
The Kuskokwim is fed by several forks in central and south-central Alaska. The North Fork (250 mi/400 km) rises in the
Kuskokwim Mountains
The Kuskokwim Mountains is a range of mountains in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States, west of the Alaska Range and southeast of the Yukon River. The Kuskokwim Mountains begin in the interior west of Fairbanks. The mountain rang ...
approximately 200 miles (320 km) WSW of
Fairbanks and flows southwest in a broad valley. The South Fork (200 mi/320 km) rises in the southwestern end of the Alaska Range west of
Mount Gerdine and flows north-northwest through the mountains, past
Nikolai, receiving other streams that descend from the Alaska Range northwest of
Denali
Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...
. The two forks join near Medfra, and from there the main stem of the Kuskokwim flows southwest, past
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''.
...
, in a remote valley between the Kuskokwim Mountains to the north and the Alaska Range to the south.
In southwest Alaska the river emerges from the Kuskokwim Mountains in a vast lake-studded
alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...
south of the
Yukon River
The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...
, surrounded by large
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...
forests. It passes a series of Yup'ik villages, including
Aniak, and approaches within 50 mi (80 km) of the Yukon before diverging southwest. Southwest of
Bethel
Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
Bet ...
, the largest community on the river, it broadens into a wide marshy delta that enters Kuskokwim Bay approximately 50 mi (80 km) SSW of Bethel. The lower river below Aniak is located within the
Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge
The Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge covering about in southwestern Alaska. It is the second-largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, only slightly smaller than the Arctic National Wildlif ...
.
The river receives the Big River from the south approximately 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Medfra. It receives the
Swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIF ...
,
Stony, and
Holitna rivers from the south at the southern end of the Kuskokwim Mountains before emerging on the coastal plain. It receives the
Aniak River
The Aniak River () (Yup'ik: ''Anyaraq'') is a tributary of the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Beginning south of Aniak Lake, the river generally flows north. The upper sections drain part of the Kilbuck and Kuskokwim mountains, a ...
from the south at Aniak. Approximately 20 miles (32 km) upstream from Bethel it receives the
Kisaralik and
Kwethluk
Kwethluk ( ; ) is a city in Bethel Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2010 census the population was 721, up from 713 in 2000. It is the birthplace of Saint Olga of Alaska.
Geography
Kwethluk is located at (60.802332, -161.418 ...
rivers from the south. It receives the
Eek River
The Eek River () is a tributary of the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is south of the Kwethluk River and north of the Kanektok River, which also drain into the Kuskokwim or Kuskokwim Bay on the Bering Sea.
Beginning at a smal ...
from the east at
Eek near its mouth on Kuskokwim Bay.
History
The principal economic activities along the river have historically been
fur trapping
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and wildlife man ...
and fishing. Subsistence fishing for salmon and whitefish provides a staple of the Yup'ik diet along the river. Economic deposits of
placer gold were discovered in 1901 near Aniak. Mineral production in the region has mainly been from scattered placer gold deposits that through 2004 had produced a total of 3.5 million
troy ounce
Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 p ...
s of gold. The primary route of the
Iditarod Trail
The Iditarod Trail, also known historically as the Seward-to-Nome Trail, is a thousand-plus mile (1,600 km) historic and contemporary trail system in the US state of Alaska. The trail began as a composite of trails established by Alaska n ...
follows the South Fork Kuskokwim River out of the Alaska Range and crosses the main stem of the river near McGrath.
See also
*
List of rivers of Alaska
This is a List of rivers in Alaska, which are at least fifth-order according to the Strahler stream order, Strahler method of stream classification, and an incomplete list of otherwise-notable rivers and streams. Alaska has more than 12,000 rivers, ...
*
List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem)
The longest rivers of the United States include 38 that have main stems of at least long. The main stem is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines a mai ...
*
Kuskokwim Bay
Kuskokwim Bay is a bay in southwestern 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 ...
*
Kuskokwim Delta
*
Kuskokwim Mountains
The Kuskokwim Mountains is a range of mountains in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States, west of the Alaska Range and southeast of the Yukon River. The Kuskokwim Mountains begin in the interior west of Fairbanks. The mountain rang ...
*
Kuskokwim 300
References
Works cited
*Benke, Arthur C., ed., and Cushing, Colbert E., ed. (2005). ''Rivers of North America''. Burlington, Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press. .
*Bright, William. (2004). ''Native American Placenames of the United States''. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. .
External links
Iditarod National Historic TrailKuskokwim River Watershed CouncilIyana Gusty and the Kuskokwim
{{Authority control
Drainage basins of the Bering Sea
Rivers of Bethel Census Area, Alaska
Rivers of Alaska
Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska
Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska
Braided rivers in Alaska