BEAVER, Alaska — In a season of short days and long nights, life in this village just below the Arctic Circle hugs tightly around the places of light and warmth, in living rooms by roaring wood stoves or the school gym where a basketball can always be found. About 60 people live here, though the number fluctuates as families move away for a time and then come back — or do not.

Insecurity about the future is a constant in remote places like this. In earlier days, residents had to focus on personal survival, getting their families through the hard bite of winter with enough food and fuel. Now, people are more connected to the broader world through jobs and technology, but villages themselves have no such certainty — they can vanish as people drift away, or flee for the opportunity and allure of Anchorage, Fairbanks or points beyond.

With new students, a village can cling to school funding