Anaktuvuk is the English way of spelling "anaqtuġvik", place of caribou droppings in Inupiaq, the language of the Inupiat.

[8] A nomadic group of Inupiat called Nunamiut lived inland in northern Alaska, hunting caribou instead of the marine mammals and fish hunted by the rest of the Inupiat, who live on the coast.

In 1938, several Nunamiut families moved back to the Brooks Range, around Tulugak and the Killik River.

In 1949 the Killik River group moved to Tulugak Lake, 15 miles north of where the village lies today.

This settlement attracted Inupiaq people from many other locations, and villagers today lead a somewhat more sedentary lifestyle than in nomadic times.

Anaktuvuk Pass is the last remaining settlement of the Nunamiut (People of the Land) Iñupiat Inuit in Alaska.

It is in Section 18, Township 15 South, Range 2 East, Umiat Meridian, within the Utqiaġvik Recording District.

Anaktuvuk Pass receives about 11 in (280 mm) of rain yearly, with snowfall averaging about 63 in (160 cm).

The area is known for its intense winds and 50-below winters and the generic, framed houses built there in the 1970s.

On June 28, 1971, the temperature fell to a record summer low of −11 °F (−24 °C),[14] though the data for that year is extremely sparse.

The racial makeup of the city was 81.2% Native American, 7.1% White, 0.3% Black, 0.3% Pacific Islander and 9.0% from two or more races.

Auxiliary health care is provided by Anaktuvuk Pass Volunteer Fire Department.

The Nunamiut's culture is described and preserved through photographs and artifacts at the Simon Paneak Memorial Museum in Anaktuvuk Pass.

Caribou is the primary source of meat, with other subsistence foods including trout, grayling, moose, sheep, brown bear, ptarmigan and water fowl.

A $3.4 million airport improvement project was completed by fall 1999, allowing many air companies to provide passenger flight service to Anaktuvuk Pass.

Anaktuvuk Pass also has two low-power translators of the statewide Alaska Rural Communications Service on K04IX[20] and K09RS.