Mertarvik, Alaska
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mertarvik (Mug-TUG-vik; Central Yupik: Mertarvik [məg'təgvɪk]) is a village in the Bethel Census Area, Alaska. In 2019, the first residents from the town of Newtok, which is eroding, began to arrive[1]. By 2024, all Newtok residents had moved to Mertarvik.[2]
As of the 2020 Census, 99 people lived there.[3] In 2020, the State of Alaska had not sent voting primary forms to the village because of how new it was.[4]
In 2025, much of the infrastructure already started failing, due to lack of federal involvement and dismissal of Mertarvik's specific needs.[5]
Education
The Lower Kuskokwim School District operates the Mertarvik Pioneer School, which is a continuation of Newtok's Ayaprun School.[6] As of 2020, it uses temporary facilities in the Mertarvik Education Center (MEC) before a permanent school is to be constructed. The school has teachers using English and Yugtun as mediums of instruction.[7] The Mertarvik school's initial enrollment was 10 and it began operations on October 14, 2019.[8] It initially had four teachers, with half using each language as a medium.[7]
As of the 2023-2024 school year, the Mertarvik's school had 40+ students.[6]
As of April 2025, construction on the permanent school campus is still underway at 30% completion.[9]
