Brevig Mission, Alaska

Geography

Brevig Mission is located at 65°20′3″N 166°29′35″W (65.334235, -166.492952).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²), of which, 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (1.89%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 276 people, 68 households, and 53 families residing in the city. The population density was 106.3 people per square mile (41.0/km²). There were 76 housing units at an average density of 29.3 per square mile (11.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 7.97% White, 90.58% Native American, and 1.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.

There were 68 households out of which 52.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.9% were married couples living together, 25.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.6% were non-families. 14.7% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.06 and the average family size was 4.35.

In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 45.3% under the age of 18, 12.3% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 10.1% from 45 to 64, and 3.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 20 years. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 118.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $21,875, and the median income for a family was $16,786. Males had a median income of $11,250 versus $25,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $7,278. About 43.3% of families and 48.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 50.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Education

Brevig Mission is served by the Bering Strait School District. Brevig Mission School serves grades Pre-K through 12.

1918 Spanish Flu

In the late 1990s, a team of scientists led by Johan Hultin exhumed the body of an Inuit woman who had been buried in the permafrost in a gravesite near Brevig Mission in an attempt to recover RNA of the 1918 influenza virus (Spanish flu) that killed her. The pandemic caused by the 1918 influenza outbreak was by far the most devastating single disease outbreak in modern history, killing 50 to 100 million people during an 18-month period. In Brevig Mission alone, it killed 72 out of 80 residents in a 5-day period.