History
Southwestern Alaska was for thousands of years the traditional place of Yup'ik people and their ancestors. They called their village Mamterillermiut, meaning "Smokehouse People", after their nearby fish smokehouse. It was an Alaska Commercial Company trading post during the late 19th century, and had a population of 41 people in the 1880 U.S. Census.
In 1885, the Moravian Church established a mission in the area in 1885, under the leadership of Rev. John Henry Kilbuck, Jr., a Lenape, and his wife Edith, a daughter and grand-daughter of Moravian missionaries in Kansas. They both learned Yup'ik, which greatly enhanced their effectiveness as missionaries. He made Uup'ik the language of the Moravian Church in the community and region, and helped translate scripture into the people's language. The missionaries moved Bethel from Mamterillermiut to its present location on the west side of the Kuskokwim River. A United States Post Office was opened in 1905.
Alaska Natives in this area have had a long Christian history, in part from Russian Orthodox, Catholic and Moravian influence. As in many Alaska Native villages, Christian tradition has become interwoven with the people's original culture.
Development came to the area during and after World War II, causing social disruption among the Alaska Natives.
In 1971 Bethel established a community radio, which has been a strong influence in the redevelopment and revival of Yupik culture and self-definition. It was the first Native-owned and operated radio station. Similar stations were soon started in Kotzebue and by 1990, there were 10 stations in communities of fewer than 3500 people.
In 2012, a person in town put signs all over stating that a Taco Bell would be coming soon, when in reality it was all an elaborate hoax and there wouldn't be a Taco Bell opening. Taco Bell corporate responded by airlifting a "taco truck" to Bethel to serve up to 10,000 tacos for the community. The event was featured in a commercial for Taco Bell.
Read more about this topic: Bethel, Alaska
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—Mary B. Clay, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 3, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
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“The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records between the material and the moral nature.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)