
The Story of Council and Covenant Life
From Tell Your Story Alaska by Billy Tjernlund
December 17, 2025 · 18 min · Season 1 · Episode 105
About this episode
This episode explores the history of Council, Alaska, and its connection to the religious community of Covenant Life.
Council went from wilderness to a booming town of 15,000 people then down to a tiny population in just a few years thanks to the flurry of gold prospectors at the end of the 19th century. Council is considered a "ghost town" today, but is it? Covenant Life seems to be connected to a religious movement called "The Move" or often referred to as "The Farm" which is a religious group with several communities throughout Alaska. This village is centered around a church and the religious values of "The Move." Contact the show at tysalaska@gmail.com TYSA Logo was created by Evan Van Kirk Music was created by Isaac Bedingfield
People in this episode
Host: Billy Tjernlund
Topics covered
- ghost towns
- religious movements
- Alaska history
- gold prospecting
- community values
Keywords
- Council
- Covenant Life
- The Move
- ghost town
- Alaska
- religious community
- gold prospectors
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Move, The Farm
Places: Council, Covenant Life
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- The Story of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska · November 25, 2025 · 36 min
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