Alaska Native Corporations

In 1968 when Kenaitze leader George Miller Jr., who eventually became the first president of CIRI, was testifying in Congress in favor of land claims legislation, he cited a horrific incident in 1895 in which a Kenai store owner terrorized the local Dena'ina and galvanized them into seeking assistance and restitution from the court system. Miller pointed out that contact between first the Russians and then the Americans was in many ways disastrous for Native people in the region.

In page after page of testimony by many Native leaders like Miller, it becomes very clear that people were making an impassioned plea for change. People were making an impassioned plea for control of their own destiny. People were making an impassioned plea to control the landscape that had nurtured their cultures for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years.

Lower 48 efforts regarding Indians focused on various policies over a period of many years, but one of the worst was assimilation in which efforts were made to make "farmers" of Indians.

There were also policies aimed at isolating the people on reservations and making them into "wards."

By the time of the 1960s, many in our nation felt a different approach was needed. This was the time of great civil unrest, including Civil Rights, Vietnam War and works such as Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

It was in this milieu that Native corporations were created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, known as ANCSA, has been called an extraordinary experiment in relations between the federal government and indigenous peoples.

At the time ANCSA was passed, Alaska Natives had made claims to lands covering the entire state of Alaska.

These were valid claims by peoples whose cultures dated back into the pre-history of the region. What made it particularly noteworthy was the fact that corporations - not reservations - were created. Alaska Natives fought hard for an alternative to a government answer to their claims. The leadership wanted full and complete control of their own destiny, without the oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. And that is what they got.

Alaska Natives benefited from the fact that the claims were settled by an act of Congress as opposed to a treaty.

Acts can be amended; treaties cannot. And ANCSA has been amended many times in its more than 30 years of history. No one says it is perfect. No one says it solves all problems Alaska Native people face. No one says it doesn't need any further amendments.

But one of the key advantages of ANCSA is that it is a living document, and some of the changes that have been made to the Act have been very significant. For example, ANCSA originally called for Alaska Natives to be allowed to sell their Native corporation stock 20 years after the passage of the Act. In other words, Native control could have been lost, and Natives would have been allowed to sell what many view as their birthright. As a result of major amendments enacted in 1988, however, Alaska Natives were authorized to continue the restrictions on the sale of stock in perpetuity. This means that Native control of the corporations can continue as long as the shareholders want. As a result of the amendments, stock restrictions can be lifted only by a vote of the majority of shares. To date, no corporation has voted to lift the restrictions.

Native corporations provide jobs, revenue and commitment to the Alaska economy. Besides the direct economic impact of the corporations, Native people have begun a process of developing enduring institutions that provide important services to Alaska Natives. And these new institutions could very well outlive the corporations themselves. Among these are the Alaska Native Heritage Center, The CIRI Foundation, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Southcentral Foundation, Cook Inlet Housing Authority, Kohanic Broadcasting Corporation and the Alaska Native Justice Center.

And while we're seeing a trend in Alaska in which some of our biggest businesses in the state are now owned by companies based outside the state, Native corporations are firmly rooted in Alaska. They always have been and always will be. This is a very significant difference between Native corporations and other businesses.

Native non-profits are also an important factor in Alaska's economy. Their overall impact has yet to be measured, but it is quite significant. In fact, there are many areas that offer themselves for further research so that the positive benefits of Alaska Native corporations on the Alaska economy can be more fully appreciated.

Native corporations differ from other corporations in many ways. Alaska Natives have an underlying concern for the well-being of the entire group. This is good for Alaska as a whole because Native corporations are committed to this state and because they are concerned with business success today and into the very long-term future, as well.

As Native corporations, leaders face unique challenges, and they are concerned about cultural preservation as well as the bottomline. Native corporation leaders are very active managers of their resources, and they believe in Alaska and its future. They look toward a bright future for our corporations and Alaska as well.