Brevig Mission 99785. Located at the mouth of Shelman Creek on the north shore of Port Clarence on the Seward Peninsula, 6 miles northwest of Teller and 60 miles northwest of Nome. The elevation above sea level is 25 feet. Population is about 159 souls.
Brevig Mission has a maritime climate when the Bering Sea is ice free (early June to mid-November). Freezing of the sea causes a change to a more continental climate, with less precipitation and colder temperatures. Annual precipitation is 11.5 inches, with an average of 50 inches of snowfall. Winter temperatures average from -9° and 8°F. During the summer months temperatures average between 44° and 57°F.
There is an airstrip adjacent to the village. Its gravel runway is 1,900 feet in length. The airport is equipped with lights but is generally unattended and transportation to the village is only available on occasion.
The Teller reindeer station was established nearby in 1892 by Sheldon Jackson, who named it after Henry Moore Teller, U.S. sebator and secretary of the Interior. The U.S. Government operated the reindeer station until 1900. At this time, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Mission was established and the settlement then became known as Teller Mission. By 1906 the government role in reindeer herding had diminished and the mission became predominate. The community then became known as Brevig Mission and was incorporated as a second-class city in 1969.
Reindeer provided the economic base for the community from 1892 to 1974, but are in decline. Skin sewing for arts and crafts and jobs on seasonal construction projects bring in some cash income. The people of the community primarily depend on both sea mammals and fishing for subsistence, going to seasonal hunting and fishing camps. Seal, oogruk and beluga whale are the most important subsistence mammals. Fish staples include salmon, whitefish, herring tomcod, flounder, sculpin and smelt. Residents also rely on waterfowl, game birds, eggs, rabbits, squirrels, moose, berries and an occasional polar bear.
Today Brevig Mission is able to communicate by phone, mail plane, radio and TV. The community is served by a Lutheran church and a school with grades preschool through 12. There are community electricity and water systenms, but no sewage system.
