Santa visit brings joy to a frosty Alaska Inupiaq village NUIQSUT, Alaska (AP) — Though the weather outside was frightful, schoolchildren in the northern Alaska Inupiac community of Nuiqsut were so delighted for a visit by Santa that they braved wind chills of 25 degrees below zero just to see him land on a snow-covered airstrip.And here in Nuiqsut, a roadless village of about 460 residents on Alaska’s oil-rich North Slope, the temperatures may have been plunging but the children were warming quickly.Recounts reaffirm Giessel, McKay as winners in Alaska races Judge weighs how to proceed on case against Alaska lawmaker Recounts set this week for 2 Alaska legislative races Alaska Republican governor sworn in for second term Year after year across the decades the Alaska National Guard has delivered gifts, supplies and often Christmas itself to a few tiny rural Alaska communities, trying in particular to make things merry in villages hit by recent hardships.For Nuiqsut, the adversity came last spring when an oil production facility about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from town sprang a natural gas leak.That’s why near the end of the program in Nuiqsut, Santa and Mrs. Claus were on the school gym floor with uniformed guard members and scores of others performing a traditional Alaska Native dance."