Afognak was an Alutiiq

Alutiiq

The Alutiiq , also called Pacific Yupik or Sugpiaq, are a southern coastal people of the Native peoples of Alaska. Their language is called Sugstun, and it is one of Eskimo languages, belonging to the Yup’ik branch of these languages. They are not to be confused with the Aleuts, who live further...

 village on the island of Afognak

Afognak

Afognak is an island north of Kodiak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is 43 miles from east to west and 23 miles from north to south and has a land area of , making it the 18th largest island in the United States. The coast is split by many long, narrow bays...

 in Kodiak Island Borough

Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska

-National protected areas:* Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge ** Barren Islands** Semidi Wilderness*** Semidi Islands** Trinity Islands*** Sitkinak Island*** Tugidak Island...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It was located on Afognak Bay on the southwest coast of the island, north of Kodiak Island

Kodiak Island

Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an...

.

History

The name was derived from Afognak Island, and was first reported in 1839 by Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Sub-Lt. Mikhail Murashev. A post office was maintained intermittently from 1888 to 1964. Afognak was covered by one meter (3 ft) of ash when Mount Katmai

Mount Katmai

Mount Katmai is a large stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula in southern Alaska, located within Katmai National Park and Preserve. It is about in diameter with a central lake-filled caldera about 3 by 2 mi in area, formed during the Novarupta eruption of 1912. The caldera rim reaches a...

 erupted in 1912. The 1964 Good Friday Earthquake

Good Friday Earthquake

The 1964 Alaska earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan Earthquake, the Portage Earthquake and the Good Friday Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964...

 generated a tsunami which destroyed the village. A new community was constructed on the northeast coast of Kodiak Island, called Port Lions

Port Lions, Alaska

Port Lions is a city located on Kodiak Island in the Kodiak Island Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 256....

 in honor of the Lions Club

Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...

who helped relocate the village, and the residents moved permanently in December 1964.

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