Located on Sarichef Island between the Chukchi Sea and Shishmaref Inlet, 5 miles from the mainland, 100 miles southwest of Kotzebue, 120 miles north of Nome. Shishmaref is accessible by scheduled and charter air service from Nome. The population of Shishmaref is 443. The zip code is 99772.
Shishmaref is 20 feet above sea level. Shishmaref is in a transitional climate zone. Winters are windy, cold and dry, and annual snowfall averages only 33 inches. Winter temperatures average between -12° and 2°F. Summers can be foggy, with west winds prevailing and temperatures averaging between 47° and 54°F. Average annual precipitation is 8 inches.
An asphalt airstrip is adjacent and to the east of the village. The airstrip is for private aircraft and is 5,000 feet in length and is unattended.
Arts and crafts available for purchase include carved and etched ivory, fur slippers and mukluks, horn dolls and bone carvings. No moorage facilities are available.
Shishmaref is just 20 miles south of the Arctic Circle and only 100 miles east of Siberia. The original Eskimo name for the Island is Kigiktaq. Lieutenant Otto Von Kotzebue named the inlet Shishmarev in 1816 after Capt. Lt. Glieb Semenovich Shishmarev, who accompanied him on his exploration. Archaeologists excavated some of the sites of Kigiktaq around 1821 and found evidence of Eskimo habitation going back several centuries. After 1900, when a supply center was established to serve gold mines in the interior of the Seward Peninsula, the village was renamed after the inlet. The site offered a fairly good harbor and proximity to mining operations. Shishmaref was incorporated as a second-class city in 1969.
The economy of Shishmaref is based on subsistence and part-time employment at local stores, the school district, city and Native Corporations. A tannery opened in 1987. In spring, residents harvest oogruk, walrus, seal, rabbit, squirrel, ptarmigan, waterfowl, eggs, various greens and plants. Summer brings the harvest of herring, smelt, salmon, whitefish, trout and grayling. In the fall, berries, waterfowl, squirrel, moose, oogruk, seal, herring, grayling and lingcod are taken. In winter, residents hunt for seal, polar bear, rabbit and ptarmigan; and fish for tomcod, flounder, sculpin and smelt. Two reindeer herds totaling 2,300 head are managed from Shishmaref and reindeer meat and skins are sometimes available at a local store.
Shismaref is the home of Eskimo artist Melvin Olanna and Iditarod Trail dog musher Herbie Nayokpuk.
Each year, the Shishmaref Spring Carnival, highlighted by the Seward Peninsula Open-Class Championship Sled Dog Races, takes place on the third weekend in April.
Shishmaref is surrounded by the 2.6 million acre Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, considered to be part of the land bridge over which prehistoric hunters traveled from Asia to North America. It offers a variety of arctic wildlife and plants, hot springs, lava beds and other volcanic phenomena, and archaeological sites.
Winter travel in Shishmaref consists mainly of snow machines, dog sleds and snowshoes. Ther are winter trails to the mainland and along the coastline.
Communications in Shishmaref include phones, mail planes, and radio. There is a community electricity system. The community is served by a Lutheran church and a school with grades preschool through 12. Water is hauled from the washeteria, collected from rain water or melted from ice hauled from the mainland.
Sewage system is primarily honey buckets. Freight arrives by cargo plane and barge.
