Ouzinkie from the water, 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: Ouzinkie (Alaska); Villages > Alaska; Narrow Strait (Alaska); Glacier Bay; eskimo*; glacier; Kodiak; sugpiaq; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/thwaites/id/184

Caption on image: Ouzinkie, Alaska, near Kodiak PH Coll 247.285 Ouzinkie is located on the west coast of Spruce Island, adjacent to Kodiak Island. It lies northwest of the City of Kodiak. Ouzinkie became a retirement community for the Russian American Company. The Russians referred to the settlement in 1849 as "Uzenkiy," meaning "village of Russians and Creoles. In 1889, the Royal Packing Company constructed a cannery at Ouzinkie. Shortly afterward, the American Packing Company built another. In 1890, a Russian Orthodox Church was built, and in 1927, a post office was established. Cattle ranching was popular in the early 1900s. In 1964, the Good Friday earthquake and resulting tsunami destroyed the Ouzinkie Packing Company cannery. Following the disaster, Columbia Ward bought the remains and rebuilt the store and dock, but not the cannery. In the late 1960s, the Ouzinkie Seafoods cannery was constructed. The operation was sold to Glacier Bay, and burned down in 1976 shortly after the sale. No canneries have operated since. Ouzinkie is a Sugpiaq Eskimo village with historical Russian influences. Commercial fishing and subsistence activities support the community.