Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

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Created by ANCSA authorities ( regional corporations )

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act ( ANCSA ) is the most extensive settlement of territorial claims in the history of the United States and was passed on December 18, 1971 by the signature of US President Richard Nixon . The aim of the ANCSA was to clarify the long-standing claims of the indigenous people of Alaska and to promote the economic development of the state. The Regulation Act transferred land titles to twelve Alaska Native Regional Corporations (authorities) and more than 200 bodies at the level of Villages . A thirteenth local authority was later created for the indigenous peoples who no longer lived in Alaska.

background

In 1968, the Atlantic-Richfield Company discovered an abundance of oil in Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean , putting the issue of unresolved land ownership on the government's agenda. In order to be able to transport the extracted oil, it was decided to build the Trans-Alaska-Pipeline to Valdez on the Gulf of Alaska . However, construction could not begin until the Alaskan indigenous peoples' claims to areas over which the pipeline would pass were cleared.

The pressure from the oil industry gave the regulation of territorial claims a high priority and urgency among political decision-makers. In the resulting Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act , the indigenous people ceded rights to the areas they had claimed and received real estate rights over 180,000 km² of land and a payment of 963 million US dollars in compensation.

Alaska Native Regional Corporations

The twelve regional authorities created by the ANCSA are represented by Native associations , which were responsible for the registration of current and former residents. The registered persons and villages became shareholders of the corporations. The compensation payments and the land ownership were transferred by law to the twelve local authorities and one further body for the indigenous people who no longer lived in Alaska in 1971. The entities at the level of the villages and their partners received their shares through the local authorities. Only the residents of Metlakatla on Annette Island in southern Alaska kept their reservation under an 1891 treaty.

The 13 regional authorities
  • Ahtna, Inc.
  • The Aleut Corporation (TAC)
  • Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC)
  • Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC)
  • Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC)
  • Calista Corporation
  • Chugach Alaska Corporation (CAC)
  • Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI)
  • Doyon, Limited
  • Koniag, Incorporated
  • NANA Regional Corporation (NANA)
  • Sealaska Corporation
  • The 13th Regional Corporation

See also

literature

  • Thomas King : The inconvenient Indian, illustrated. A curious account of native people in North America. Doubleday Canada, 2017 ISBN 0385690169 Chap. 10: Happy ever after, esp.p. 263ff. (detailed discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the ANCSA for the Aborigines; illustr. large-format new edition of the non-illustrated first edition from 2013)

Web links