1971: U.S. settles Alaska Native land claims

A century after acquiring Alaska from Russia, the U.S. moves to extinguish the claim of many hundred Alaska Native communities to their aboriginal lands. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act revokes all but one of the reserves and reservations in the state. In return, Alaska Natives are granted one-ninth of the state or 40 million acres to be divided among them along with a shared payment of $462,500,000. The act establishes Alaska Native corporations, including 13 regional corporations and many more local village corporations, that receive shares of the payment and begin developing local economies to benefit Alaska Native people.

Theme

Federal-Tribal Relations

Region

Arctic, Northwest Coast, Subarctic