A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community — the Ekwok Village. Ekwok is a Yup’ik Eskimo village with a fishing and subsistence lifestyle. Ekwok means “end of the bluff” and is the oldest continuously-occupied Yup’ik Eskimo village on the river. During the 1800s, the settlement was used in the spring and summer as a fish camp and in the fall as a base for berry picking. By 1923, it was the largest settlement along the river. In 1930, a BIA school was constructed. Mail was delivered by dog sled from Dillingham until a post office opened in Ekwok in 1941. Many of the earliest homes in Ekwok were located in a low flat area near the riverbank. After a severe flood in the early 1960s, villagers relocated to the current location on higher ground. The city was incorporated in 1974.
