A post office was established in 1913, and a second trading post opened in the early 1920s. The first Beaver school opened in 1928, and an airstrip was built in the 1930s. Beaver's population remained stable from 1950 through the 1970s. In 1974, the village council purchased the local store and set it up as a cooperative, with villagers holding shares of stock. The population of Beaver is predominantly mixed Athabascan Indian and Eskimo.
Subsistence is an important source of food items.
Economy Almost all Beaver residents are involved in subsistence activities. Moose, salmon, freshwater fish, bear and waterfowl supply meat. Gardening and berry-picking are popular activities. Most wage employment is part-time at the school, post office, clinic and village council. Seasonal wages are earned through BLM fire fighting, construction jobs, trapping, producing handicrafts or selling cut firewood.