ANCSA, 50th Anniversary
Unsettled: A podcast examining the legacy of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Fifty years ago, U.S. Congress passed legislation that permanently terminated Alaska Natives' land claims. On its anniversary, Alaska Public Media and the Anchorage Daily News, with Indigenous leaders from around the state as guests, examine the legacy of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and its impacts on subsistence, culture and the state's economy.
Profits eluded Sealaska for decades. Now it’s ditching timber and plastics, and investing in kelp.
An investment in Barnacle Foods, while small, is a potent symbol of the corporation’s new vision. Other corporations are taking similar steps.
ANCSA made only Natives born before December 1971 corporate shareholders. Those born after want change.
Shares mean dividends, identity and a say in what corporations do. Many Alaska Natives under 50 are waiting to be included.
Proposed Ambler project underscores promise and peril of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Ambivalence about the Ambler road and mine projects extends across the Upper Kobuk River region, where jobs could support subsistence but development could jeopardize it.
ANCSA at 50 on Talk of Alaska: The next generation of leaders looks forward
As the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act approaches, shareholders in and outside the state are reflecting on the landmark legislation and how it’s evolved over time. Despite the successes, problems remain, including how younger generations of Alaska Natives will be included.
Many see Red Dog as an ANCSA success story. What happens when the ore runs out?
The mine has brought wealth to Northwest Alaska, supporting Alaska Native communities and culture. But its relationship with the only village downstream is fraught, and the mine is running out of ore.
A historic settlement turns 50, but questions linger over whether it was fair
While the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act created monetary wealth for Alaska Native shareholders, it also came at a huge cost.
Berries, wildlife and toxic land: The continuing push to clean up contamination in rural Alaska
When a string of Yup'ik elders from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, all received the same cancer diagnoses, officials initially shrugged it off as a bizarre medical mystery. But not long after, a different village reported an increase in unusual cancer symptoms as well.
ANCSA at 50 | Special Edition of Alaska Insight
Fifty years ago this December, Alaska Native leaders joined forces with national lawmakers to create legislation that ensured certain native land rights in our state. How has that legislation evolved over the decades? What does the next generation of Alaska Native leaders want to see moving forward?
ANCSA at 50: Who will be included in the next generation of shareholders?
Video: Corporations formed under ANCSA are slowly opening up to new generations of shareholders, allowing younger Alaska Native people to have a voice in shaping the future.
‘Being good relatives’: New program aims to increase collaboration between Alaska Native tribes and corporations
There is a phrase that Iñupiaq elder Vernita Sitaktun Qutquq Herdman likes to say: “When Natives fight Natives, someone else is winning.”
With knowledge of his ancestors, young leader looks to ANCSA’s future
Aaron Tolen has tribal and ANCSA regional corporation affiliations across the state. He aims to balance a modern education with the values and traditions of his people, so he can continue to feel grounded in his culture and also experience success in a contemporary way.
Alaska without ANCSA? Look to Metlakatla.
At first glance, Metlakatla looks similar to many of the other villages in Southeast Alaska: glacier-cut coastlines, dense temperate rainforests, dramatic mountains in the backdrop. But locals know better — there is something distinctly different about the place.
ANCSA at 50 on Talk of Alaska: The role of Native corporations in Alaska’s economy
Fifty years ago, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act established regional and village corporations throughout the state. In the second of our three-part discussion of ANCSA, we’ll speak with corporate executives about the economic and cultural impact the corporations have on not just Alaska Native lives, but on all Alaskans.
Special Alaska Insight: Celebrating ANCSA at 50 – Nov. 17
Fifty years ago this December, Alaska Native leaders joined forces with national lawmakers to create legislation that ensured certain native land rights in our state. How has that legislation evolved over the decades? What does the next generation of Alaska Native leaders think of it?
ANCSA at 50 on Talk of Alaska: Behind the history of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is 50 years old in December and the economic effect of the Native Corporations ripples across the state, representing an increasingly larger piece of the state’s economy and jobs.
Cheat sheet: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 101
It can be confusing to keep track of the various Native organizations and layers of tribal enrollment options within Alaska, so we put together a list of definitions that explain some of the basics.
Can Indigenous subsistence rights still be protected in Alaska?
As the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act approaches, the question still remains: What can be done to protect subsistence rights today?
The modern treaty: protecting Alaska Native land, values
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, in its simplest terms, provided Alaska Natives with $962.5 million and title to 44 million acres of land in exchange for the extinguishment of aboriginal land claims.
The next generation of Alaska Native shareholders
When the Alaska Native Claims Settlement passed it inadvertently created another system of Indigenous grouping and belonging, much like one sees in tribes. It also meant that those born after the date, like Boerner’s future children, would be left out of the act.
Alaska Native identity ‘weighs heavily’ on friends and a future
Throughout discussions on subsistence rights, education access, and other policy matters, blood quantum has consistently loomed in the background.
Alaska Natives’ complicated identities
Depending on different factors, an Alaska Native could be an enrolled citizen of their tribe, village corporation, and regional corporation. They could be enrolled in their regional corporation, but not their tribe. They could be enrolled in different corporations or tribes than their siblings are.
The grant funding for this project comes from the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism.
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