Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T21:36:03.605Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: conflict and controversy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Monica E. Thomas
Affiliation:
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775, USA

Abstract

Pending land claims by Alaska Natives were extinguished by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. This act marked the culmination of more than 100 years of expressed Federal concern for protection of land rights of aboriginal peoples within the region, starting with the 1867 Treaty of Cession. The Federal legislation provided both a cash and a land settlement, and mandated creation of corporations to manage the resulting assets. Two amendments, in 1976 and 1980, attempted to alleviate certain problems arising from the original act. Nonetheless, many difficulties with the act itself are becoming more apparent as the 1990s approach, and certain sections of the act such as taxation and stock alienation become activated. This paper discusses the major events leading to passage of the act, key provisions of the act, and the major controversies and conflicts facing Alaska Natives through the next two decades as a result of the legislation.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alaska Department Of Fish And Game. 1985. Subsistence regulations. Juneau, Alaska.Google Scholar
Alaska Native Foundation. 1982. 1991 Issues report. Anchorage, Alaska Native Foundation.Google Scholar
Anders, G. C. 1983. The role of Alaska Native corporations in the development of Alaska. Development and Change, 14: 555–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tobeluk, Anna et al. vs Lind, Marshall et al. No 3 AN-72-2450 CIV (Third Judicial District, Alaska Superior Court), 3 September 1976.Google Scholar
Arnold, R. D. 1978. Alaska Native land claims. Anchorage, Alaska Native Foundation.Google Scholar
Berry, M. C. 1975. The Alaska Pipeline: the politics of oil and Native land claims. Bloomington, Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Branson, D. M. 1979. Square pegs in round holes: Alaska Native claims settlement corporations under corporate law. UCLA-Alaska Law Review, 8(2): 103–38.Google Scholar
Burch, E. S. Jr 1979. Native claims in Alaska: an overview. Inuit Studies, 3(1): 730.Google Scholar
Case, D. S. 1983. Sitnasuak and the 1991 issues. Fairbanks, University of Alaska.Google Scholar
Case, D. S. 1978. The special relationship of Alaska Natives to the Federal government. Anchorage, Alaska Native Foundation.Google Scholar
Cooley, R. A. 1983. Evolution of Alaska land policy. In Morehouse, T. A. (editor). Alaskan Resources Development: Issues of the 1980s. Boulder, Westview Press: 1349.Google Scholar
Hensley, W. L. 1969. Why the Natives of Alaska have a claim. Kotzebue.Google Scholar
Kleinfeld, J., Travis, R. and Hubbard, V. 1982. Native college success in the seventies: trends at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Occasional Paper 15, Institute of Social and Economic research, University of Alaska.Google Scholar
Kruse, J. A. 1984. Changes in the well-being of Alaska Natives since ANCSA. Alaska Review of Social and Economic Conditions, 21 (3): 112.Google Scholar
Olson, D. F. and Bradford, H. T. 1979. The economic consequences of ANCSA implementation. Anchorage, Federal State Land Use Planning Commission for Alaska.Google Scholar
Price, M. E. 1979. A moment in history: the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. UCLA- Alaska Law Review, 8(2): 89101.Google Scholar
Price, R. E. 1982. Legal status of the Alaska Natives. Fairbanks, Alaska Statehood Commission.Google Scholar
Rogers, G. W. 1962. The future of Alaska: economic consequences of statehood. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press.Google Scholar
Treaty of Cession, 28 May 1867. 15 Star. 539; Treaty Series 301.Google Scholar
Us Public Law, 48th Congress, Chapter 53. Alaska Organic ActGoogle Scholar
Us Public Law 85508. Alaska Statehood Act, 7 July 1958.Google Scholar
Us Public Law 92203. Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 18 December 1971.Google Scholar
Us Public Law 94204. Amendment to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 2 01 1976.Google Scholar
Us Public Law 96487. Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, 2 December 1980.Google Scholar