The Togiak community is the inhabitant of the area located at the head of Togiak Bay, 67 miles west of Dillingham in Togiak National Wildlife Refuge. The population of the area was 783 in 2006 and the inhabitants are mainly Alaska native. The area is a traditional Eskimo village that has a fishing and subsistence life style. The economy of the village primarily depends on commercial salmon, herring and herring roe-on-kelp fisheries.
Most of the people have commercial fishing permit, nearly three of every 10 residents. They have distinct technique to go for fishing. The fishermen of Togiak use flat-bottom boats for the shallow waters of Togiak Bay. There is an onshore fish processor nearby the Bay along with several floating processing facilities. Seal, sea lion, whale and walrus are among most harvested species. Few residents use trap for fishing. The area also has one school where only 230 students study.
The history of Togiak dated back to 1880 when the population was only 276. The climate was severing cold with heavy snowfalls in winter which made wood gathering almost difficult so gradually people migrated to a new site on the opposite shore. There are people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim region migrated south to the Togiak area after an epidemic in 1918-19. In 1950 a school was established there and a National Guard Armory was constructed in 1959. It was in 1964 Togiak suffered heavy loss in a flood leaving behind only three or four households and then the village developed again.
