Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA)

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) is a United States law, signed by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, that settled the aboriginal land claims of Alaska Natives. Instead of creating reservations, it transferred title to up to 44 million acres of land and a cash settlement of about $963 million to Native-owned corporations. It is described as the largest land claims settlement in United States history and remains the foundation of the Alaska Native corporate system [1][2].

Background

The Alaska Statehood Act of 1958 protected existing Native land claims while allowing the new state to select about 104.5 million acres of federal land. The two rights collided, and a freeze on land transfers was put in place. The 1964 Good Friday earthquake drew federal attention to Alaska, and a federal committee proposed $100 million plus a 10 percent revenue royalty, but nothing was enacted [1].

Native leaders organized in response. Emil Notti convened the first statewide meeting in 1966, and in early 1967 the group became the Alaska Federation of Natives, with Notti as full-time president. The pressure grew in 1968, when ARCO discovered oil at Prudhoe Bay. A pipeline to Valdez needed federal permits that could not be granted while the claims remained unsettled, so industry, the state and Native leaders all had reason to seek a settlement. President Nixon’s July 8, 1970, speech moved federal policy toward tribal self-determination, and a March 12, 1971, meeting with Vice President Spiro Agnew is described as a turning point [1].

What the Act Provided

Congress passed the act in the fall of 1971, with the House acting on October 20 and the Senate on November 1, and the President signed it on December 18, 1971. Alaska Natives kept up to 44 million acres and had three years from passage to make their land selections. The money, about $962.5 million, came partly from the federal treasury ($462.5 million) and partly from a share of oil and mineral revenues [1].

The act was written around corporations. Surface rights to village land went to village corporations, and subsurface rights went to regional corporations, an arrangement often called the split estate. Together with section 6 of the Statehood Act, ANCSA affected about 148.5 million acres of Alaska land. It also revoked the 1906 Alaska Native Allotment Act, although pending allotment claims could continue [1][2].

Corporations and Shareholders

ANCSA created 12 for-profit regional corporations in Alaska, among them Doyon, NANA, Sealaska and Calista, plus a 13th regional corporation for Natives who no longer lived in the state and which owned no land. It also created roughly 200 to 224 village and urban corporations, depending on the count [1][3]. About 80,000 Alaska Natives were enrolled as original shareholders, and benefits went to people with at least one-fourth Native ancestry. About two-thirds received 100 shares each in a village and a regional corporation, and the remaining third, called at-large shareholders, received 100 shares in a regional corporation along with rights to a share of regional mineral and timber revenues [1].

Nonprofit organizations created by the regions and by some villages deliver health care, scholarships, social services, language preservation and cultural programs, often funded through grants and federal compacts [1].

Implementation

The state eventually received about 85 percent of the land it had claimed under the statehood grant, roughly 90 million acres. Amendments extended the state’s filing deadline to 1994, and the Bureau of Land Management was expected to complete processing of overlapping claims by 2009. Some land selections were still unresolved at the end of 2014 [1].

Assessment

The act had bipartisan support and heavy Native involvement. Supporters credit the corporations with generating economic benefits and note that several are among the largest and most profitable companies in Alaska. Critics raise cultural concerns, arguing that a corporate model pressed unfamiliar structures on communities, and some object that only tribal leaders took part in negotiations and that Native populations did not vote on the final law. Some shareholders also sold land to outside companies [1]. These competing views remain part of public debate about the act.

Why It Matters

ANCSA reshaped Alaska’s land ownership map and cleared the way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, whose permit had been blocked until the claims were resolved [1][3]. Unlike most Native American land settlements in the contiguous United States, it created a system of regional corporations in place of reservations, and Alaska Native corporations now own large land holdings and employ many Alaskans [2][3].

Timeline of the Settlement

The path to ANCSA can be followed through a series of dates. The Statehood Act of 1958 allowed Alaska to choose about 104.5 million acres, the 1964 earthquake highlighted Alaska’s needs, and in 1966 Emil Notti called the first statewide Native meeting. The Alaska Federation of Natives formed in early 1967, and that year Governor Walter Hickel’s task force asked for million in exchange for the lands requested. The Prudhoe Bay oil discovery of 1968 raised the stakes sharply, with House hearings beginning in July 1968. President Nixon’s speech of July 8, 1970, favored tribal self-determination, and the final House and Senate votes followed in October and November 1971 [1].

Land Selection and Surface Rights

Native corporations had three years after passage to select their lands, and the act divided the rights to those lands in a specific way. Under section 14(f), village corporations received the surface estate while regional corporations received the subsurface estate, so a village owned the land on which it stood while the region owned the minerals beneath. The act also provided that benefits would go to people with at least one-fourth Native ancestry, and it set up a system of shares rather than tribal membership. Examples of regional corporations include Doyon in the Interior, NANA in the Northwest Arctic, Sealaska in Southeast Alaska and Calista in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, while Goldbelt is among the urban and village corporations [1][2].

FAQs

When was ANCSA signed? President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act on December 18, 1971.

How much land and money did Alaska Natives receive? Up to 44 million acres and about $962.5 million.

How many Alaska Native regional corporations are there? There are 12 regional corporations in Alaska and a 13th for Alaska Natives who lived outside the state.

Why was ANCSA passed? The oil discovery at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 made a pipeline necessary, and the pipeline could not be permitted until Native land claims were settled.

Does ANCSA create reservations? No. It settled claims through Native-owned corporations and ended the reservation system in Alaska.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
2. Wikipedia: Alaska Natives
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica: Alaska: Government and society

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 11, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue