Description
Niako Island is located in Sagavanirktok River Delta, near Heald Point, on Beaufort Sea coast Arctic Plain.
History
This name first appears on Surgeon John Simpson's 1853 native map on which he notes "First sleeping place of the natives of Pt. Barrow, traveling from Colville R. to Pt. Berens." Leffingwell (1919, p. 91 refers to it as a small island at Heald Point * * *." This place cannot be definitely identified, but may refer to present-day Niakuk Island near Heald Point.