Аляска жер дауы және шешімі: ANCSA заңының тарихы

Statute of the United States
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in Alaska, as well as to stimulate economic development throughout Alaska. The settlement established Alaska Native claims to the land by transferring titles to twelve Alaska Native regional corporations and over 200 local village corporations.

When Alaska became a state in 1959, section 4 of the Alaska Statehood Act provided that any existing Alaska Native land claims would be unaffected by statehood and held in status quo. Yet while section 4 of the act preserved Native land claims until later settlement, section 6 allowed for the state government to claim lands deemed vacant. The state government also attempted to acquire lands under section 6 of the Statehood Act that were subject to Native claims under section 4, and that were currently occupied and used by Alaska Natives. A 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck the state in 1964. Recovery efforts drew the attention of the federal government.

In 1966, Emil Notti called for a statewide meeting inviting numerous leaders around Alaska to gather and create the first meeting of a committee. The historic meeting was held October 18, 1966 on the 99th anniversary of the transfer of Alaska from Russia. Notti presided over the three day conference as it discussed matters of land recommendations, claims committees, and political challenges the act would have in getting through congress. Many respected politicians and businessmen attended the meeting and delegates were astonished at the attention which they received from well known political figures of the state. The growing presence and political importance of Natives was evidenced when members were able to gain election to seven of the sixty seats in the legislature. When the group met a second time early in 1967, it emerged with a new name, The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), and a new full time President, Emil Notti. AFN went on to profoundly change the human rights and economic stability of the Alaska Native population.

In 1967, Governor Walter Hickel summoned a group of Indigenous leaders and politicians to work out a settlement that would be satisfactory to Natives.#tag:ref|Among the appointees were politicians Raymond C. Christiansen, Willie Hensley, Carl E. Moses, John C. Sackett, and Jules Wright. Indigenous members included George Attla, Cecil Barnes, Laura Bergt, John Borbridge, Alice Brown, Harry Carter, Jerry Crow, Jeff David, Frank Degnan, Andrew Demonski, Mark Ewan, Richard Frank, Charles Franz, Tom Gregoroff, Eben Hopson, Axel Johnson, Flore Lekanoff, Tony Lewis, Byron Mallott, Emil McCord, Elva Naanes, Hugh Nicholls, Emil Notti, George Olson, Howard Rock, Harvey Samuelson, Walter Soboleff, Seraphim Stephan, Richard Stitt, George Trigg, Donald R. Wright and Lula Young. They proposed receiving 10% of federal mineral lease revenue for ten years, once the freeze which had been placed on land patents to allow oil exploration was lifted.

In 1968, the Atlantic Richfield Company discovered oil at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast, catapulting the issue of land ownership into headlines. In order to lessen the difficulty of drilling at such a remote location and transporting the oil to the lower 48 states, the oil companies proposed building a pipeline to carry the oil across Alaska to the port of Valdez. At Valdez, the oil would be loaded onto tankers and shipped to the contiguous states.

In 1969, President Nixon appointed Hickel as Secretary of the Interior. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) protested against Hickel's nomination, but he was eventually confirmed. The AFN wanted rights to land, while then Governor Keith Miller believed Natives did not have legitimate claims to state land in light of the provisions of the Alaska Statehood Act. The following month, he established the National Council on Indian Opportunity, headed by Vice President Spiro Agnew, which included eight Native leaders: Frank Belvin (Choctaw), Bergt (Iñupiat), Betty Mae Jumper (Seminole), Earl Old Person (Blackfeet), John C. Rainer (Taos Pueblo), Martin Seneca, Jr. (Seneca), Harold Shunk (Yankton Sioux), and Joseph C. "Lone Eagle" Vasquez (Apache Sioux). During the state administration of Governor William A. Egan positions were staked out upon which the AFN and other stakeholders could largely agree. Native leaders, in addition to Alaska's congressional delegation and the state's newly elected Governor Egan, eventually reached the basis for presenting an agreement to Congress. That meeting held on March 12, marked a turning point in negotiations with the various parties. In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was signed into law by President Nixon. In return, Natives retained up to 44 million acres (17,806,184 km2) of land and were paid $963 million. Alaskan officials were originally divided on the bill, though by 1970, with Interior Secretary Walter Hickel, Governor William Egan, Representative Nick Begich & Senators Ted Stevens & Mike Gravel all backing the bill, the opposition died down. Stevens was particularly strongminded, and was key in the bill's passage. Stevens, a freshman Senator for most of the fight, would later remark:

In 1971, barely one million acres of land in Alaska were in private hands. When the bill passed in 1971, it included provisions that had never before been attempted in previous United States settlements with Native Americans. The idea originated with the AFN, who believed that the Natives would have to become a part of the capitalist system in order to survive. If the corporations were managed properly, they could make profits that would enable individuals to stay, rather than having to leave Native villages to find better work.

Alaska Natives had three years from passage of ANCSA to make land selections of the 44 million acres (17,806,184 km2) granted under the act. In some cases Native corporations received outside aid in surveying the land. The state of Alaska to date has been granted approximately 85% or 90 million acres (36,421,740 km2) of the land claims it has made under ANCSA. The state is entitled to a total of 104.5 million acres (42,289,687 km2) under the terms of the Statehood Act. Amendments to ANCSA extended that deadline until 1994, with the expectation that BLM would complete processing of land transfers subject to overlapping Native claims by 2009. Nonetheless, some Native and state selections under ANCSA remained unresolved as late as December 2014.

There was largely positive reaction to ANCSA, although not entirely. The act was supported by Natives as well as non Natives, and likewise enjoyed bipartisan support. Natives were heavily involved in the legislative process, and the final draft of the act used many AFN ideas. Some Natives have argued that ANCSA has hastened cultural genocide of Alaska Natives. Some Natives critiqued ANCSA as an illegitimate treaty since only tribal leaders were involved and the provisions of the act were not voted on by indigenous populations. Other critics attacked the act as "Native welfare" and such complaints continue to be expressed. But supporters of the system argue that it has provided economic benefits for indigenous peoples that outweigh these problems.