Negtemiut literally means ‘the people of the pressed-down place’.[8] The first element is negte- ‘to press down on’. The suffix is -miut ‘people’.[9]
It first appeared on the 1940 U.S. Census as the unincorporated Native village of "Nigtmuit". In 1950 and 1960, it was spelled "Nigtmute". In 1970, the spelling used was "Nightmute". It formally incorporated in 1974.
In 1964, many of its residents relocated by dogsled and founded the bayside community of Toksook Bay about 15 miles (24km) downriver.[3][10] The relocation was to avoid the yearly spring-winter migration to and from Umkumiut and Nightmute.[11]
Geography
Nightmute is located on Nelson Island near Toksook Bay. The two villages connect by snowmachine trail in winter.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 101.5 square miles (263km2), of which 97.0 square miles (251km2) is land and 4.6 square miles (12km2) (4.50%) is water. Nightmute lies 15 to 17 miles east of the neighboring village of Toksook Bay.
Culture
Traditionally, Yup'ik babies were swaddled in atasuaq, bird-skin parkas before the 1920s; in 1918, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), this practice as well as Native communities' abilities to feed and clothe themselves, was legally outlawed.[12] In 1997, after prolonged advocacy by Native people, the U.S. government amended the MBTA to allow for Indigenous communities to resume their hunts. While atasuaq were now allowed to be openly created, increased availability of commercial diapers and western clothes also worked against going back to traditional ways.[13]
John Agaiak, a Yup'ik artist born in Nightmute in the 1940s, released I'm Lost in the City, an album in 1971 sung in both Yup'ik and English.[14][15][16]
As of the 2020 census, Nightmute had a population of 306. The median age was 21.6 years. 44.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 7.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 105.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 120.8 males age 18 and over.[18][19]
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.[20]
There were 63 households in Nightmute, of which 61.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.2% were married-couple households, 27.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 14.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[18]
There were 63 housing units, of which 0.0% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 0.0%.[18]
As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 208 people, 47 households, and 38 families residing in the city. The population density was 2.1 inhabitants per square mile (0.81/km2). There were 54 housing units at an average density of 0.6 per square mile (0.23/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 91.83% Native American, 5.29% White and 2.88% from two or more races. 0.96% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 47 households, out of which 61.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.1% were non-families. 10.6% 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 4.43 and the average family size was 5.03.
In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 41.3% under the age of 18, 13.5% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 12.0% from 45 to 64, and 4.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 22 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,938, and the median income for a family was $36,250. Males had a median income of $21,250 versus $23,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,396. About 7.1% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.
Indigenous culture
Many of the Indigenous people within Nightmute share ancestry and culture with Indigenous people in the neighboring areas of Tununak, Chefornak, Toksook Bay, and Newtok; collectively, they call themselves Qaluyaarmiut, which translates to dip net people.[21]
12Miyaoka, Osahito (2010). "Number"(.DOC). A Grammar of Central Alaskan Yupik. Tuqsuk is a new name given after the river going from the Bay to Negta (Nightmiut) when a part of people moved from the latter village to the new site (David Chanar, p.c.).
↑Theata. University of Alaska. 1979. p.45. Sixty dogs in a team, doesn't that sound like enough of a team? Well, that's the way many people moved their houses from the village in Nightmute to Toksook Bay, which is about 18 miles. In the spring of 1964, around March, the majority of the people of Nightmute decided to move to Toksook and voted [...]
↑Ann Fienup-Riordan; etal. (2005). Yup'ik Words of Wisdom. U. of Nebraska Press. p.13. ISBN0-8032-6917-X. In 1964, Paul led a number of families to found the village of Toksook Bay to avoid the arduous annual move between the winter village of Nightmute and spring camp at Umkumiut.
