In

the 1700s Russians came to Alaska and under the

doctoring of discovery claimed the land.

This meant that under the rule of

discovery they owned
everything...


Aleut in Fes+val Dress in Alaska, Watercolor by
Russian arFst Mikhail T. Tikhanov, 1818

...everything except the aboriginal rights.

 Aboriginal rights otherwise know as Indigenous rights are those
rights that exist in recogniFon of the specic condiFon of the indigenous peoples. This includes not only the
most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the preservaFon of their land, language,
religion, and other elements of cultural heritage that are a part of their existence as a people.

So...how are they seKled?

...they needed to be...

bought, negoFated OR conquered.

Before the Russians sold what would be Alaska to the United States they did NOT
handle the aboriginal rights...
 1959 Alaska became a State

1968 The governor summoned a group of naFve

leaders to create a seKlement to deal with the
aboriginal rights.

1968 they also discover oil in Prudhoe Bay, this

made seKling an agreement more urgent.

AVer a considerable amount of back and forth, in

1971 the Alaska NaFves Claims SeKlement Act
(ANCSA) was signed into law by President Nixon.
 Because of these negoFaFons put into acFon
with ANCSA; NaFves received money and land.

This money and land was divided up between

regional, urban, and village corporaFons.
In short:
ANCSA created the 12 naFve regional economic
development corporaFons. ( A 13 corperaFon was later formed to deal with naFves who had
th

leV the state)

Koniag, Incorporated
 ... There are 13 Village CorporaFons in the
Kodiak area...

... Can you name 5?...

NaFve Village CorporaFon Name Community Name Alaska NaFve Regional CorporaFon

Afognak NaFve CorporaFon Afognak/ Port Lions Koniag, Incorporated
Akhiok-Kaguyak, Inc. Akhiok/ Kaguyak Koniag, Incorporated
Anton Larsen Inc. Anton Larsen Bay Koniag, Incorporated
Bells Flats NaFve Group Inc. Bells Flats Koniag, Incorporated
Karluk NaFve CorporaFon Karluk Koniag, Incorporated
Leisnoi, Inc. Woody Island Koniag, Incorporated
Litnik Inc. Litnik Koniag, Incorporated
NaFve of Kodiak Inc. Kodiak Koniag, Incorporated
Nu-Nachk Pit Inc. Larsen Bay Koniag, Incorporated
Old Harbor NaFve CorporaFon Old Harbor Koniag, Incorporated
Ouzinkie NaFve CorporaFon Ouzinkie Koniag, Incorporated
Shuyak Inc. Port William Koniag, Incorporated
Uyak, Inc. Uyak Koniag, Incorporated

Please keep in mind this is a simplied version of the list

There are village CorporaFons and groups lumped together
 There are around 250 small rural communiFes scaKered throughout the
Alaska bush.

In 1971 when Alaska NaFve land claims was seKled by enacFng the Alaska NaFve Claims SeKlement
Act (ANCSA), Congress designated more than 200 of those communi4es as Na4ve
villages (what we refer to as tribes) for the purposes of ANCSA. See 43 U.S.C. 1610(b)(1)

To be a NaFve village Congress required a community to be not of a modern and urban

character and to on the 1970 census enumeraFon date have had twenty-ve or more NaFve
residents who collecFvely were a majority of community residents. See 43 U.S.C. 1610(b)(3).
Congress dened the term NaFve as a ciFzen of the United States who is a person of one-fourth
degree or more Alaska Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut blood, or combinaFon thereof. See 43 U.S.C. secFon
1602(b).

 NaFve Village of Afognak
NaFve Village of Akhiok
Kaguyak Tribal Council
NaFve Village of Karluk
NaFve Village of Larsen Bay
Lesnoi Village
Village of Old Harbor
NaFve Village of Ouzinkie
NaFve Village of Port Lions
Sunaq Tribe of Kodiak
 Federally Recognized Tribes are Na4ons.
This means that they have a Government to
Government rela4onship with the Federal
Government.

AND...It is important to note when talking about

this sovereign relaFonship...
...no one gave Indian Tribes anything, it was
already theirs. As Tribes they are inherently and
organically sovereign...
 It was Ted Stevens vision to have 12 regions to handle all the
tribes. Ted Steven felt that there were too many Tribes in Alaska
and they needed to be regionalized- now you can see where
ANCSA came up with the 12 regional corporaFons...

The problem with that is Tribes are NaFons and sovereign, you can
not just get rid of tribes...
...however... around the same Fme
as ANCSA, Each of the regional prot corporaFons (such as Koniag)
formed a separate regional nonprot corporaFons (such as KANA) to
assist their members with health and social services...
 It is important to note: KANA only exists through
the resoluFons from Tribal Governments in the
Koniag region.
The Federal Government CAN NOT talk to KANA without those resoluFons
provided by the Tribes.

It is poliFcally, NOT racial based...

The United States government makes it illegal to discriminate against race,
naFonal origin, or ancestor. So its important to be clear that the benets received
through KANA are based on the Government to Government relaFonships of the
Tribes that have resoluFons with KANA.

The Government does not work with Tribes because they are NaFve, that would
be considered discriminaFon. The Government works with the tribes because of
the sovereign relaFonship already in place.

Side Note: Regional CorporaFons, Village CorporaFons and Regional Nonprots

DO NOT have a sovereign government to government relaFonship with the
Federal Government ONLY Tribes have this relaFonship.
 ANCSA created village and regional corporaFons,
and in eect regional nonprots.
Kodiaks regional corporaFon is Koniag.
Kodiaks regional nonprot is KANA.
Kodiak area has 13 Village corporaFons.
Kodiak area has 10 Federally recognized tribes.
Federally recognized tribes are sovereign naFons.
This means they have a Government to
Government relaFonship with the federal
Government.
This is not true for village, or regional corporaFons.
This is also not true for the regional nonprots.
 Sunaq Tribe of Kodiak
312 West Marine Way
Kodiak, AK 99615

907-486-4449

tribalcourt@sunaq.org

By Hanna Sholl 2015

hKps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_NaFve_Regional_CorporaFons
hKp://www.propublica.org/arFcle/what-are-alaska-naFve-corporaFons
hKps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_NaFve_Claims_SeKlement_Act
hKp://www.kanaweb.org/
hKps://www.afognak.com/about/
hKp://www.aki-kodiak.com/who-we-are