St. Lawrence Island has been inhabited sporadically for the past 2,000 years by both Alaskan Yup'ik and Siberian Yupik people.
Yupiks returning to their homes along the Nushagak River would sometimes become lost in the fog and be swept up the Wood River to Aleknagik Lake by the tide.
Naukan, or Nuvuqaghmiistun, the second largest Yupik language spoken in Siberia, is spoken in settlements Uelen, Lorino, Lavrentiya, Provideniya.
In 1821, a Yupik village called Naugeik was noted by Capt. Lt. Vasiliev of the Imperial Russian Navy.
Remark: Sireniki Eskimo language is often classified as a third branch of Eskimo languages, alongside with Inuit and Yupik.
As a missionary, Uyaquq is said to have converted whole villages of Yupik in the lower Kuskokwim River valley to Christianity.
The largest dialect, General Central Yupik or Yugtun, is spoken in the Yukon River, Nelson Island, Kuskokwim River, and Bristol Bay areas.