Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

A 1971 federal law that extinguished Alaska Native aboriginal land claims in exchange for land and money distributed through regional and village corporations.

Alaska Native regional corporations: For-profit corporations established under ANCSA to receive land and money for Alaska Native shareholders across 12 regions. They received most settlement land and funds and became the act’s principal regional institutions.
Alaska Native land claims: Claims by Alaska Native peoples to land based on Indigenous occupation, use, and sovereignty. These unresolved claims were the legal issue ANCSA was designed to settle.
Alaska Native corporations: Businesses created under ANCSA to hold assets and represent Alaska Native shareholders. The act made corporations, rather than tribal governments, the main vehicles for distributing its settlement.
Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act: A 1980 federal law settling land claims by the Penobscot Nation and Passamaquoddy Tribe in Maine. It settled Indigenous claims through a different mix of land, federal recognition, and state jurisdiction.
Alaska Native village corporations: Corporations established under ANCSA to receive land and funds for Alaska Native shareholders in qualifying communities. They held local land and shared in the settlement’s financial distribution.
Alaska statehood: Alaska’s admission as the 49th U.S. state in 1959. State land selections intensified disputes over Native lands and helped drive a settlement.
Alaska Native tribal sovereignty: The inherent authority of Alaska Native tribes to govern their members and territories. ANCSA’s corporate framework coexists with tribal governments and did not erase tribal sovereignty.
Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act: A 1974 federal law addressing land partition and relocation involving the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. Its partition-and-relocation remedy contrasts with ANCSA’s corporate land-and-cash settlement.
Alaska Native allotment: An individual parcel conveyed to an Alaska Native under federal allotment laws. Individual allotments were distinct from ANCSA’s corporate land transfers and were not automatically extinguished.
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System: A pipeline carrying crude oil from Alaska’s North Slope to the port of Valdez. The pipeline’s route depended on resolving land claims that delayed construction.

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