[1] The name derives from the numerous Sicilian fishermen who would anchor in the protected waters during closed fishing periods and collectively celebrate their heritage with plenty of food and wine.

At first used in a pejorative way, the Sicilians embraced the terminology and the name stuck, becoming official when the area was first definitively mapped in 1943.

Although a few fish swim up, and reportedly spawn in, its waters, the stream is primarily a drain for the multitude of small lakes, marshland and tundra of the coastal zone north of Ugashik Bay.

It then begins a slow and meandering path towards the sea, with several oxbow lakes and false channels along the way.

Though relatively narrow, the entire length of the stream has been navigated by vessels from the Bristol Bay fishing fleet.