An interesting aspect of this situation is this: the villagers didn’t originally choose to live there, they were forced to by the Alaskan government, they were refugees back in 1959: According to an article at the US Fish and Wildlife site -
Quote:The Yup’iks, who had lived in these parts of Alaska for hundreds of years, had traditionally used the area around present-day Newtok as a seasonal stopping-off place, convenient for late summer berry picking. Even then, their preferred encampment, when they passed through the area, was a cluster of sod houses called Kayalavik, some miles further up river. But over the years, the authorities began pushing native Alaskans to settle in fixed locations and to send their children to school.Hmm, I’ll trust the Yup’iks to know better where to camp, after all, they had thousands of years of experience before the US Gov set foot in Alaska. When you get relocated to an island surrounded by running rivers on all sides, do you think erosion might be a problem in your future?
It was difficult for supply barges to manoeuvre as far up river as Kayalavik. After 1959, when Alaska became a state, the new authorities ordered villagers to move to a more convenient docking point.