NANA Regional Corporation - NANA Region

NANA Region

The NANA region in northwest Alaska encompasses 38,000 square miles (98,000 km2), about the size of Indiana. Most of it is north of the Arctic Circle, and the region is coterminous with the boundaries of the Northwest Arctic Borough. The region has a population of about 7,300 people living in 11 communities. Of these, more than 85 percent of the region’s residents are Iñupiat, descendants of the first people who settled the region more than 10,000 years ago. The regional hub is Kotzebue; other villages include: Ambler, Buckland, Deering, Kiana, Kivalina, Kobuk, Noatak, Noorvik, Selawik, and Shungnak.

Subsistence plays a key role in the lives of the Inupiat. For centuries, they have relied on hunting and fishing. For most families in the region, the household economy is a mix of participation in these subsistence activities and full-time or part-time employment.Subsistence is not just economic necessity – it also plays a strong cultural and social role in the lives of NANA shareholders - and the preservation of subsistence resources is a vital element of the Inupiat cultural identity and values.