Place / Drawing

Flu in the Arctic: Influenza in Alaska, 1918

A graphic essay about the brutal toll taken by the epidemic on indigenous communities in Alaska.

by Coyote Shook via SHGAPE Blog on June 9, 2020

October of 1918: Influenza arrives in Alaska. "While Spanish Influenza will not come to Alaska as quickly as it spread across the continent, it will be here in time," said Dr. L. O. Sloane, public health officer, this morning.

The Empire's readers did not have to wait long. By October 14th, the paper reported 4 cases in Juneau. On October 20th, 36 people arrived in Nome on the steamship Victoria. Though mailbags were fumigated, the sickness was carried across Western and Northern Alaska, likely following postal and mining trails.

The impact was immediate. This was especially true for indigenous communities.

By November 13, Nome reported 126 deaths for indigenous people and 12 deaths for the white community. "Deaths among the Native population on the Seward Peninsula from the Spanish Influenza is estimated at 1000. Entire villages of Adults have been wiped out. Children are the principal survivors..." Alaska Daily Empire, December 21, 1918.

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