Wales is located on Cape Prince of Wales, at the western tip of the Seward
Peninsula, 111 miles northwest of Nome. Average summer temperatures range
from 40-50 °F; winter temperatures range from -10 to 6 °F. Annual
precipitation is 10 inches, including 35 inches of snow. Frequent fog,
wind and blizzards limit access to Wales.
Wales became a major whaling center due to its location along the migratory
routes, and it was the region's largest and most prosperous village, with
more than 500 residents. The influenza epidemic in 1918-19 claimed the
lives of many of Wales' finest whalers. Wales has a strong traditional
whaling culture. The current population is approximately 154.
The economy of Wales is based on subsistence hunting and fishing, trapping,
Native arts and crafts, and some mining. A private reindeer herd is managed
out of Wales by local residents. Whales, walrus, polar bear, moose, salmon,
and other fish are utilized. Whalers hunt the bowhead whale during the
spring when the begins to break up.
Dumond, Don E. and Collins, Henry Bascom. 2000. Henry B. Collins at Wales, Alaska, 1936: a Partial Description of Collections. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, Museum of Natural History.
Kanguk. 1939. Kanguk: a Boy of Bering Strait / as told to William Albee. Boston, MA: Little,Brown & Co.
Harritt, Roger K. 1994. Eskimo Prehistory on the Seward Peninsula,
Alaska. Anchorage, AK: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service, Alaska Regional Office.
Jenness, Diamond. 1928. Archaeological Investigations in Bering Strait.
Ottawa: F. A. Acland.
Lopp, Ellen Louise Kittredge; Lopp, William Thomas; Smith, Kathleen Lopp;
and Smith, Verbeck. 2001. Ice Window: Letters from a Bering Strait
Village, 1892-1902. Fairbanks, AK: University of Alaska Press.
Thornton, H.R., Thornton, N.S.P., & Thornton, W.M. 1931. Among the
Eskimos of Wales, Alaska, 1890-93. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.
http://www.weather.com/weather/cities/us_ak_wales.html
From the weather channel
http://www.weather.com/weather/cities/us_AK_wales.html
From Weather.com
Sea Ice:
http://polar.wwb.noaa.gov/seaice/alaska.html
Sea Ice conditions for AK, images from the last 14 days
http://polar.wwb.noaa.gov/seaice/ak.html#click
Sea ice map from NOAA
http://polar.wwb.noaa.gov/seaice/Forecasts.html
Sea Ice forecast models for AK - 1 through 6 day forecasts
http://www.dced.state.ak.us/mra/CF_CIS.cfm
From AK Dept. of Community and Economic Development
http://www.yukonpresbytery.com/YukonPresbytery/Northwest/Wales.htm
History of the Presbyterian Church in Wales, AK
http://www.kawerak.org/village/wales/wales.html
Wales section of Kawerak
http://www.unr.edu/artsci/oralhist/ohweb/Wales/home.htm
Wales site
http://borealis.lib.uconn.edu/ArcticCircle/HistoryCulture/Sickness/sickness.html
Information on the influenza epidemic that devistated Wales in the early
20th century
www.bssd.org/Pages/schools/sites/WAA/wales.htm
Kingikmiut School
http://www.beringsea.com/cgi-bin/comm.pl?community=Wales
Information about Wales from beringsea.com
