Native Village of Nanwalek

A nation today

Exit Glacier flowing down a valley off the Harding Icefield near Seward, Alaska.
Dubhe, Wikimedia Commons (file: 1055 - exit glacier.jpg) · CC BY 2.5

Background

The Nanwalek IRA Council has seven members, a First Chief, a Second Chief, a Secretary, a Treasurer and three Council Members, all elected. The Bureau of Indian Affairs list published on January 30, 2026 carries the entry Native Village of Nanwalek (aka English Bay) as a top-level entity. Chugachmiut, the tribal organization serving the Native communities of the Chugach region, says the village is governed by that council and places Nanwalek on the southwestern tip of the Kenai Peninsula on lower Cook Inlet, about 200 miles from Anchorage and reachable only by boat or airplane. It says the Native people of Nanwalek call themselves Sugpiaq.

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Parks on its homelands

Exit Glacier flowing down a valley off the Harding Icefield near Seward, Alaska.Kenai Fjords National Park

Chugachmiut places the Native Village of Nanwalek on the southwestern tip of the Kenai Peninsula on lower Cook Inlet, about 200 miles from Anchorage, reachable only by boat or airplane, and governed by an elected seven-member IRA Council. Nanwalek's people call themselves Sugpiaq, meaning real people. Source

Sources

Checked September 2026.

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