Yuuyaraq today, Yuuyaraq tomorrow: modeling erosion threats to Yup’ik traditional land use areas

Figures & data

Figure 1. The location of Quinhagak within the Y-K Delta.

A map of Alaska with each village in the Y-K Delta. Quinhagak is labeled in the middle of the figure.

Figure 2. An aerial photo of Quinhagak viewed from the Bering Sea.

An aerial photo of a small village at the mouth of a large river. The village is Quinhagak.

Figure 3. The extents of two maps depicting Quinhagak’s Traditional Land Use Area (TLUA). Such maps were used during interviews with local Yupiit to locate traditional place names, contemporary subsistence sites, and areas of high erosion.

A map of Quinhagak Alaska with two polygons superimposed over the base map. Each polygon represents the geographical extents of existing maps in Qanirtuuq Inc Land Manager’s office.

Figure 4. The total area of each river system within Quinhagak’s Traditional Land Use Area.

A bar chart of the total acreage for each river system within Quinhagak’s Traditional Land Use Area. The tallest bar is the Qanirtuuq river.

Figure 5. Erosion rates at the City dock and Kuiggacuk. Today, fish racks and modern homes have been relocated as the Qanirtuuq migrates south.

A map showing erosion in Quinhagak at the city dock. Fish racks, fish processing areas, and old river banks are included.

Figure 6. A 2022 map detailing areas where village infrastructure has been lost due to erosion.

A map of 2022 erosion levels in Quinhagak, AK. Damage to ANCSA 14(h) allotments, the village cemetery, and housing developments is annotated.

Table 1. A description of the GIS database we have produced since 2019 alongside the Qanirtuuq Land Manager’s office. From this database a subset of GIS layers were used for the 3 traditional place names included within the study area. Alt Text: [11 words] A summary statistics table of the GIS database constructed for this project.

Description	Digitized Layers	UAV Orthomosaics	Yugtun Place Names	Interviews
Total Traditional Land Use Area	490	10	290	49
Study Area	59	2	3	5

Table 2. Rates of erosion of the Qanirtuuq near Quinhagak.

Description	River Erosion 1990–2005	River Erosion 2005–2019
Points sampled	7,969	9,091
Maximum (m)	117.0	170.4
Minimum (m)	0.027	0.009
Median (m)	7.4	7.9

Figure 7. Meqsarturyaraq is a traditional place name near the old Airport in Quinhagak. It has traditionally been used as a boat dock, fresh water access, and fish processing/drying area. Furthermore, its location near berry patches that are close to the village make it an important cultural resource.

A map of erosion at the old airport in Quinhagak. Village infrastructure is shown under threat from the riverine erosion of the Qanirtuuq river.

Figure 8. 2021 estimates of erosion damages for Quinhagak during the next century. Note the lack of erosion damages for village infrastructure until 2056, and the costs per lost fish camp (300,000). Image courtesy of the Alaskan Department of Natural Resources.

Two tables detailing expected erosion damages to Quinhagak over the twenty-first century.

Figure 9. A sample distribution of Yup’ik subsistence place names throughout the Y-K Delta. Image courtesy of the EKOLA environmental Atlas.

An interactive GIS map showing Yup’ik place names with a corresponding legend to highlight the type of place name depending on node color.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from Qanirtuuq Inc, a registered ANCSA 14(h) village corporation in Quinhagak, AK. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for this study. Data are available from Warren Jones with the permission of Qanirtuuq Inc.