BECHAROF
CORPORATION
PRESERVATION, PROSPERITY, AND POINTING THE WAY TO THE FUTURE
Egegik’s rich history is comprised of many peoples who, from pre-colonial times to now, range all across the Northern Hemisphere
HISTORY
The people of Egegik successfully mixed their indigenous ancestry with non-indigenous traditions with those who came to the Alaska Peninsula in the 19th century. From Russian fur hunters to Scandinavian commercial fishermen. The first step to Egegik’s foothold in the commercial fishing industry began in 1895, with a saltery and fish processing enterprise. Followed by reindeer herding, fox farming, oil exploration.
CULTURE
Speaking a dialect of the Central Alaskan Yup’ik language, the Tarupiat people of Ancient Igyagiiq (Egegik), prolifically adapted to trade, travel and subsist across Alaska. Travelers representing many cultural traditions have passed throughout the Alaska Peninsula for nearly 9,000 years, with ancestral culture majorly shaped by the Aleut/Alutiiq people of the Aleutian Islands, Yup’ik/Inupiaq people of the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and many other people from within and outside Alaska.
