The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: Tribal Sovereignty and the Corporate Form

In 1971, Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), 1 granting the Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts of Alaska 2 title to over forty million acres of land 3 and awarding them almost one billion dollars 4 for the extinguishment of their claims to Alaska lands. 5At the time, Natives supported ANCSA as a formal recognition of their longstanding use and occupancy of the land.They thought it would safeguard their traditional, subsistence-based economy by securing title to that land for future generations. 6ANCSA is unusual both for the enormous compensation it mandated, and for the organizational structure it created to administer settlement benefits. 7ANCSA authorized the creation of two tiers of Native corporations to receive federal benefits on behalf of Alaska Natives. 8These corporations pay out the direct cash benefits of the settlement as dividends and hold title to the settlement land.The Act divided Alaska into twelve geographic regions, which attempted to group together Natives "having a common heritage and sharing 1. Pub.L.