Alaska Native Village Corporations

Alaska Native village corporations are for-profit corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971, alongside regional corporations, to hold land and money for Alaska Native communities. The Act created over 200 village corporations and 13 regional corporations, and transferred about 44 million acres of land and $962.5 million to them. Annette Island is the only reserve not revoked by the Act [1][2].

Background

Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (Public Law 92-203) to resolve Alaska Native land claims, and President Nixon signed it on December 18, 1971. Native land rights were based on historic and aboriginal use and occupancy, not on treaties. The 1958 Statehood Act let Alaska select about 102.5 million acres, and Native protests led the Interior Secretary to halt state land approvals in 1969. The 1967 discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay added pressure to settle the claims [2].

What the Act Did

Natives received legal title to about 44 million of Alaska’s roughly 375 million acres, and an Alaska Native Fund of $962.5 million compensated them for lands and rights taken. Aboriginal title claims were extinguished and all reservations were revoked except the Annette Island Reserve. Congress said it wanted to settle the claims without creating a reservation system [2].

Regional and Village Corporations

The Act created 13 regional corporations and over 200 village corporations, chartered under Alaska state law. The state was divided into 12 geographic regions, each with a private for-profit regional corporation [1][2]. The corporations held the land in fee simple, so they could use or sell it without federal restrictions [2].

Shareholders

Alaska Native regional and village corporations are owned by enrolled shareholders, and all Alaska Natives were eligible to be shareholders in one or more corporations [1][2]. Sealaska, for example, received 365,000 acres, about 1.6 percent of the traditional homelands of the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian people [1].

Amendments and Outcomes

The 1989 amendments protected corporate land from foreclosure in bankruptcy and authorized new stock issues for people born after 1971. Some corporations faced early financial strain, but most were stable by the mid-1980s, and by the early 2000s many were financially successful and several paid dividends [2]. In Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie (1998) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that ANCSA lands, other than Annette Island, are not “Indian country” [2].

Related Entries

See the entries on Tsimshian and Metlakatla, the Ahtna people and the Government of Alaska.

FAQs

What is ANCSA? The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, signed December 18, 1971, which settled Alaska Native land claims.

How many village corporations exist? Over 200.

How much land did ANCSA transfer? About 44 million acres.

How much money did ANCSA provide? $962.5 million.

Who owns the corporations? Enrolled Alaska Native shareholders.

Sources

1. Sealaska: About ANCSA Overview
2. Encyclopedia.com: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971)

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 12, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue