Alaska Native corporation facts for kids

The Alaska Native Regional Corporations were created in 1971. This happened when the United States Congress passed a law called the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). This law settled claims about land and money made by the Alaska Natives. It also set up 13 special companies, called regional corporations, to manage these claims.

How Regional and Village Corporations Work

Under the ANCSA law, Alaska was first divided into twelve main areas. Each area had a "Native association" that helped sign up people who lived there. Alaska Natives who signed up became shareholders in the Regional and Village Corporations that the law created.

The twelve for-profit regional corporations, plus a thirteenth one for Alaska Natives who didn't live in Alaska in 1971, received money and land from the ANCSA law. Village corporations and their shareholders got their benefits through the regional corporations. Some Alaska Native villages couldn't form their own corporations, which later led to some legal issues.

Today, Alaska Native people own these regional and village corporations through private shares of stock. Alaska Natives who were alive on December 17, 1971, and signed up, received 100 shares of stock in their regional or village corporation. In 2006, a new law made it easier for shares to be given to those who missed the first sign-up or were born later.

During the 1970s, the regional and village corporations chose land near Native villages. Village corporations own the surface of the land they chose. But regional corporations own the underground rights (like minerals) for both their own land and the village corporations' land.

What the ANCSA Law Said

The ANCSA law explained how these corporations would work. It divided Alaska into twelve regions. Each region was meant to include Native people who shared a similar background and interests.

The law also listed the original Native associations that helped define these regions:

• Arctic Slope Native Association (for places like Utqiaġvik and Point Hope)
• Bering Straits Association (for areas like Seward Peninsula and Unalakleet)
• Northwest Alaska Native Association (for Kotzebue)
• Association of Village Council Presidents (for the southwest coast and villages around Bethel)
• Tanana Chiefs' Conference (for areas along the Yukon River and Kuskokwim River)
• Cook Inlet Association (for places like Kenai and Tyonek)
• Bristol Bay Native Association (for Dillingham and the Upper Alaska Peninsula)
• Aleut League (for the Aleutian Islands and Pribilof Islands)
• Chugach Native Association (for places like Cordova and Tatitlek)
• Tlingit-Haida Central Council (for southeastern Alaska, including Metlakatla)
• Kodiak Area Native Association (for villages on and around Kodiak Island)
• Copper River Native Association (for places like Copper Center and Glennallen)

There was also a thirteenth region created for Alaska Natives who did not live in Alaska at the time.

This map shows the different regions created by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Here are the thirteen regional corporations that were created:

Alaska Native Village Corporations

There are over 200 village corporations in Alaska. Most of these companies serve a single village. Some smaller villages have joined their corporations together over time.

For example, the Afognak Native Corporation was formed in 1977. It combined two village corporations: Port Lions Native Corporation and Natives of Afognak, Inc. This corporation has many different businesses. For 18 years, it made money from logging on Afognak Island. It also runs successful smaller companies that do things like leasing, bioenergy, and oil field services.

In the late 1990s, Afognak Native Corporation started a business that works with the government. It is a very successful company. In 2010, it was listed as one of the top 100 contractors for the U.S. government. Its contracts were worth over $749 million. In 2013, some of its businesses even won a NASA Small Business Contractor of the Year Award.

The corporation mainly focuses on "Construction and Engineering" services. Afognak Native Corporation has about 900 shareholders. It pays out over $12 million in dividends (money paid to shareholders) each year. The corporation owns more than 160,000 acres of land around the Kodiak Archipelago. This land is a big reason for the company's financial success.

Later Laws and Court Cases

The federal Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (ISDA) gave Native American tribal governments and Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) more control over their own affairs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a law called the CARES Act set aside about $8 billion for recognized "tribal governments." The U.S. Treasury Department planned to give about $500 million of this money to ANCs. The federal government had generally seen ANCs as "tribal governments" since the ISDA law was passed.

However, three Native American tribes from other states sued the Treasury. They argued that ANCs were not "tribal governments" under the CARES Act. This led to a case in the United States Supreme Court called Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation. In June 2021, the Supreme Court decided that ANCs are indeed recognized as "tribal governments" under the ISDA law. This meant they were allowed to receive the CARES Act funds.

Financial Performance of Regional Corporations

Here's how well each Alaska Native Regional Corporation performed financially in 2016: