Sanak Island

Sanak Island (Sanaĝax [Bergsland, K "Aleut Dictionary" Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 1994] in Aleut) is an island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska, located at coord|54|22|N|163|22|W. Two famous shipwrecks, one in 1906 and another in 1943, occurred near Sanak. Like many of the other Aleutian Islands, Sanak was inhabited by the Aleut people for thousands of years. Although Sanak is now no longer occupied by permanent residents, the island is still owned by its former residents who visit the island occasionally to harvest the feral cattle that live on the island. Travel to the island is currently done by fishing vessel. The trip takes about five hours to cross the roughly 40 mile distance from King Cove to Sanak.

The US Navy operated a small Naval base at Sanak Island during World War II.

In 2004, 2006, and 2007 teams of archeologists and ecologists visited Sanak Island to study the effects of long-term human occupation on the island. Researchers, led by investigators from Idaho State University studied both the living plants and animals as well as the remains of food animals such as fish, sea mammals, and shellfish preserved in archeological sites. Over 100 archeological sites were excavated with the oldest sites dating to 5600 years before present.

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