Forty-two patients with oesophageal cancer were identified among Alaskan Natives from 1955 through 1981. Based on rates for US whites, there were 1.3 and 3.8 times the number of Native men and women diagnosed with oesophageal cancer as expected. Forty of the patients were Eskimo or Aleut, resulting in an incidence for Eskimo-Aleuts of 10.9 for males and 8.3 for females per 100 000 adjusted to the world standard population. The distribution of cancer patients by residence at diagnosis showed marked regional clustering, which has been observed among oesophageal cancer patients in several other areas of the world.