Alaskas native corporations have a dubious Seattle link

Some of the biggest players in the Alaskan economy are the Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs) formed as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Twelve regional corporations and nearly 200 village corporations own 12 percent of the states land. A 13th regional corporation, headquartered in Seattle, was created to benefit Alaska Natives who live outside the state. It does not own any land there, and, according to published reports, has apparently squandered the $54 million it was granted by ANCSA and is completely broke.

Last fall, United States Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Natural Resources (whose chairman is Representative Doc Hastings of Washington state), asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs if it intended to do anything about the 13th Regional Corporations situation.

ANCs were intended not only to resolve aboriginal land claims, Markey wrote in a letter to the BIA, but also to provide a lasting source of income and economic development for Alaska Natives. Many of the regional corporations are highly profitable and provide jobs, scholarships and other benefits to their Alaska Native shareholders. The 13th Regional Corporation, unfortunately, appears to have fallen well short of ANCSAs original promise.

Meanwhile, the Alaska Journal of Commerce has reported that the 13th is hoping its fellow regional corporations will agree to allocate as much as 1.2 million acres of Alaska land, which would allow it to generate revenue.