Koyuk Covenant Church - Pastor Wass Mute
Koyuk is located at the mouth of the Koyuk River, at the northeastern end of Norton Bay on the Seward Peninsula, 90 air miles northeast of Nome.
The site of "Iyatay et" on Cape Denbigh to the south has traces of early man that are 6,000 to 8,000 years old. The villages were historically monadic. Lt. Zagoskin of the Russian Navy noted the village of "Kuynkhak-Muit" here 1842-44. A Western Union Telegraph expedition in 1865 fround the village of "Konyukmute." Around 1900, the present townsite began to be populated, where supplies could easily be lightered to shore. Two boom towns grew up in the Koyuk region around 1914: Dime Landing and Haycock. The "Norton Bay Station," 40 miles up river, was established to supply miners and residents in 1915. In addition to gold, coal was mined a mile upriver to supply steam ships and for export to Nome. The first school began in the church in 1915; the U.S. government built a school in Koyuk in 1928.
Pastor Wass Mute provides pastoral ministry in Koyuk. In the fall of 2005, Wass and Jean moved from Scammon Bay Covenant Church to serve in the pastorate vacated by retiring pastor, Chip Swanson. He has served as Senior Pastor in Mekoryuk for 5 years, prior to coming to Koyuk. Before his present call he also served for 3 year on the ECCAK General Council before becoming the ECCAK Associate Field Director for the Yukon Kuskokwim region from 1999-2002.
