Native couple, Chignik, ca. 1912

• Main Author: Thwaites, John E. (John Edward), 1863-1940
• Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries. Manuscripts, Special Collections, University Archives Division
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1912
• Subjects: Couples > Alaska > Chignik; Dwellings > Alaska > Chignik; Chignik (Alaska); Koniagmiut Eskimos > Alaska > Chignik; Anchorage; Anchorage Bay; eskimo*; Kodiak; sugpiaq; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/thwaites/id/108

Caption on image: Chignik, Alaska PH Coll 247.33 The City of Chignik is located on Anchorage Bay on south shore of the Alaska Peninsula, 450 miles southwest of Anchorage and 260 miles southwest of Kodiak. Prior to Chignik, a Kaniagmuit Native village called Kaluak was located here; it was destroyed during the Russian fur boom in the late 1700s. Chignik, a Sugpiaq word meaning "big wind," was established in the late 1800s as a fishing village and cannery. A four-masted sailing ship called the "Star of Alaska" transported workers and supplies between Chignik and San Francisco. Chinese crews from San Francisco traveled to Chignik in early spring to make tin cans for the cannery. Japanese workers followed in mid-June to begin processing. A post office was established in 1901. Coal mining occurred from 1899 to 1915. Chignik became an incorporated City in 1983. Today, two historical canneries are still in operation.