Northwest Arctic Borough Death Index

The Northwest Arctic Borough death index covers vital records for Kotzebue and dozens of remote Inupiat communities along the Kotzebue Sound. Death index searches for this region route through the Alaska Health Analytics and Vital Records Section, which holds statewide death records for all boroughs and census areas including this one.

How Death Records Are Maintained

The Northwest Arctic Borough is an organized borough in northwestern Alaska. The borough seat is Kotzebue, a small city on the Baldwin Peninsula along Kotzebue Sound. The borough covers a vast area of Arctic and sub-Arctic terrain, home to roughly two dozen Inupiat communities spread across hundreds of miles. Most communities have no road connection to each other or to the outside world. Travel relies on small planes and boats.

Death records for this region are not held locally. The Northwest Arctic Borough government at 163 Lagoon Street in Kotzebue handles local administrative functions such as deeds, mortgages, liens, and plat maps. The borough does not issue death certificates. All certified death records for the Northwest Arctic Borough come from the Alaska Health Analytics and Vital Records Section.

HAVRS holds the statewide death index for Alaska. Records from 1913 onward are available. Deaths that occurred 50 or more years ago are accessible to the general public. Deaths within the past 50 years have access restrictions and are available only to qualified applicants such as direct family members, legal representatives, or others with a documented need.

How to Search the Death Index

Most people searching the Northwest Arctic Borough death index start with HAVRS. The agency maintains the official Alaska death index and issues certified copies of death certificates. You can order by mail, in person in Juneau or Anchorage, or online through VitalChek.

The HAVRS office in Juneau is at 5441 Commercial Blvd, Juneau AK 99801. The phone number is (907) 465-3391. You can also visit the Anchorage office at 3901 Old Seward Hwy Suite 101, Anchorage AK 99503, with the local number (907) 269-0991. Mail requests go to P.O. Box 110675, Juneau AK 99811-0675.

The HAVRS website has current order forms and instructions. Online orders go through VitalChek at VitalChek Alaska Vital Records. This is the fastest method for most requesters. The fee is $30 for the first certified copy and $25 for each additional copy ordered at the same time.

The HAVRS vital records orders page at health.alaska.gov explains the full process, lists acceptable forms of ID, and has downloadable order forms for mail requests. This page is the best starting point if you are not sure what to bring or how to fill out the request.

The HAVRS vital records portal is the primary gateway for ordering certified death certificates in Alaska. The screenshot below is taken directly from that resource.

The HAVRS orders page includes links to both the in-person and mail-in order options, along with current processing times and fee schedules.

Maniilaq Association and Tribal Health Records

For Northwest Arctic Borough research, the Maniilaq Association is worth contacting. Maniilaq is a tribal health organization serving the Northwest Arctic region. It was founded by and for the Inupiat people of this area. The association manages health programs across the entire Kotzebue Sound region, including communities such as Ambler, Buckland, Deering, Kiana, Kobuk, Kotzebue, Kivalina, Noatak, Noorvik, Selawik, and Shungnak.

Maniilaq maintains health data and statistics for the communities it serves. While it does not issue death certificates, its records may contain supplementary information useful for family history research. Tribal enrollment records and Alaska Native corporation membership documents can also help confirm family connections when vital records are sparse.

The Maniilaq Association serves as a key community health organization for the Northwest Arctic region. The screenshot below shows the association's website, which contains contact information and program details.

You can reach Maniilaq directly through their website to ask whether health program records or community health statistics might assist your research into deaths in the Northwest Arctic region.

The Northwest Arctic Borough itself offers another avenue. The borough office at nwabor.org can confirm whether a death was recorded locally in any administrative capacity and can direct you to the right state or tribal agency. The screenshot below is from the borough's official website.

The borough website provides contact numbers for the Kotzebue office and links to public records resources maintained at the local level.

Historical and Genealogical Research

Historical death records for the Northwest Arctic region often appear in Alaska Territorial records, Alaska Native Service records, and missionary archives. The Alaska State Archives in Juneau holds death and burial registers and other records from the territorial period. Their genealogy collection spans from 1816 through 1998 and includes roughly 1.1 million documents.

The Alaska State Archives genealogy resource is available online at archives.alaska.gov. This database is one of the most useful tools for researching deaths in remote Alaska communities during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including communities in the Kotzebue Sound region.

FamilySearch is another strong resource for Northwest Arctic research. Historical records for this area may include Inupiat tribal documents, Alaska Native Service records, and federal census records. The FamilySearch platform at familysearch.org indexes many Alaska collections that are searchable online at no cost.

The Alaska State Library in Juneau also maintains genealogical resources. Their Alaska genealogy guide at library.alaska.gov connects researchers to collections held across the state, including records from the northwest Alaska region. This is a good place to check if you have exhausted the HAVRS and state archives resources.

The CDC guide to Alaska vital records at cdc.gov provides a concise summary of which records exist and where they are held. It is a short read and worth checking early in any research project involving Alaska deaths.

What the Death Index Contains

The Alaska death index includes records of all deaths registered in the state. Each record in the index typically includes the full legal name of the deceased, the date of death, the place of death, and the file number assigned to the record. The index is a finding tool. It points you to the underlying death certificate, which contains more detail.

A certified death certificate includes the name of the deceased, date and place of death, cause of death, the name of the attending physician or coroner, and information about the parents and survivors of the deceased. For deaths in remote Alaska communities, the reporting physician may be listed as a community health aide or a visiting physician from the nearest regional health center.

Records under 50 years old require proof of your relationship to the deceased or a documented legal need. You will need to submit a valid photo ID and, depending on your relationship to the deceased, additional documents such as a birth certificate showing your connection, a marriage certificate, or legal paperwork. HAVRS staff can tell you exactly what you need for your specific situation.

Deaths that occurred 50 or more years ago are treated as public records and can be ordered by anyone. No relationship documentation is needed for these older records. This applies to all Alaska boroughs and census areas, including the Northwest Arctic Borough.

The Alaska Vital Statistics Act

Alaska's vital records system is governed by the Vital Statistics Act. This law sets the rules for how deaths are registered, who must file a death certificate, what information must be included, and who can access records. The act is part of Title 18 of the Alaska Statutes.

The full text of the Vital Statistics Act is available through Justia's Alaska statutes database. The law covers registration requirements, time limits for filing, access rules, and the authority of the HAVRS to issue certified copies. Reading the relevant sections can help you understand what to expect when you submit a request.

Under the act, deaths must be registered within 10 days. The funeral director or person in charge of disposition typically files the certificate. For deaths in remote communities, the process may involve coordination with the nearest health facility, the state medical examiner, or local tribal health workers.

Nearby Boroughs and Census Areas

Cities in Northwest Arctic Borough

Kotzebue is the borough seat and the largest community in the Northwest Arctic Borough. Other communities in the borough include Ambler, Buckland, Deering, Kiana, Kivalina, Kobuk, Noatak, Noorvik, Selawik, and Shungnak. All are small villages without their own death index pages, accessible primarily by air or boat. Death records for residents of any of these communities are maintained by HAVRS in Juneau.