Sedanka Island () is an island in the Fox Islands group of the eastern

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

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 ...

. It is long and is situated off the northeast coast of

Unalaska Island Unalaska (, ) is a volcanic island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the US state of Alaska located at . The island has a land area of . It measures long and wide. The city of Unalaska, Alaska, covers part of the island a ...

. It has a land area of and no permanent population.

History

The

Aleut Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...

village of Biorka was located on the Northern part of the island, at the entrance to Udamat Bay. In June 1942 following the start of the

Aleutian Islands Campaign The Aleutian Islands campaign () was a military campaign fought between 3 June 1942 and 15 August 1943 on and around the Aleutian Islands in the American theater (World War II), American Theater of World War II during the Pacific War. It was t ...

the village was evacuated. In 1945 when the evacuated

Aleuts Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...

were allowed to return to the

the authorities concluded that the required cost of rebuilding and re-settling the village was too high and the villagers were initially forbidden from returning to their villages. Attempts were made to re-settle Biorka, however the population dwindled due to the isolated location until a storm in 1952 damaged most of the remaining houses forcing the remaining residents to move to

Unalaska The City of Unalaska (; ) is the main population center in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska is located on Unalaska Isl ...

; there has been no permanent population on the island since. A small fishing vessel was wrecked on the eastern coast of the island. As of 2025, it is still there.

References

Sedanka Island: Block 2001, Census Tract 2, Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska
United States Census Bureau

History

References

Further reading