Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Deering, AK

Deering (Inupiaq: Ipnatchiaq) is a city in Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska, located on a sandy spit on the Seward Peninsula where the Inmachuk River flows into Kotzebue Sound, about 57 miles southwest of Kotzebue.

The city was established in 1901 as a supply station for interior gold mining called "Yutica" near the historic Malemiut Eskimo village of Inmachukmiut, and it was incorporated as a fourth-class city on October 28, 1970.

Deering was probably named for the schooner Abbie M. Deering, which was present in the area at the time; the same schooner is mentioned by name in Rudyard Kipling's 1897 novel Captains Courageous.

The 2020 census recorded a population of 182 in Deering, up from 122 in 2010, with 54 households and 72 housing units, a quarter of which were vacant.

Deering's residents are primarily Inupiat, and 92.3 percent of the 2020 population was American Indian and Alaska Native; the median age was 26.3 years, and 40.1 percent of residents were under 18.

The sale or importation of alcohol is banned in Deering, and its inhabitants are active in subsistence hunting and fishing.

As of 2003 the city included a community hall, a clinic run by the U.S. Public Health Service, a post office, a church, two stores, and a National Guard armory.

Deering also has a city council organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

The Deering School, operated by the Northwest Arctic Borough School District, serves the community, and as of 2017 it had four teachers and 50 students, all Alaska Native.

Deering's ZIP code is 99736, and the city covers about five square miles of land on the Kotzebue Sound coast.