Alaska's Conflicting Objectives

Daedalus ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 147 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-48
Author(s):  
Rosita Kaaháni Worl ◽  
Heather Kendall-Miller
Keyword(s):  
Alaska Native ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alaska Natives ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Alaska Native Corporations ◽  
Tribal Land

The formal treaty-making period between the U.S. government and Native peoples ended in 1871, only four years after the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. As a result, Alaska Natives did not enter into treaties that recognized their political authority or land rights. Nor, following the end of the treaty-making period, were Alaska Natives granted the same land rights as federally recognized tribes in the lower forty-eight states. Rather, Congress created the Alaska Native Corporations as the management vehicle for conveyed lands in 1971. The unique legal status of these corporations has raised many questions about tribal land ownership and governance for future generations of Alaska Natives. Although Congress created the Native Corporations in its eagerness to settle land claims and assimilate Alaska Natives, Alaska Native cultures and governance structures persisted and evolved, and today many are reasserting the inherent authority of sovereign governments.

“Incorporating” American Colonialism: Accounting and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven W. Thornburg ◽  
Robin W. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Alaska Native ◽  
The United States ◽  
Corporate America ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Alaska Native Corporations ◽  
Native Alaskans ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT The history of Alaska is a colonial history (Pomeroy 1947; Haycox 2002). The purpose of this paper is to examine how the corporate form of organization and corporate accounting were used by the United States (U.S.) government to rationalize decisions, exercise control, and exploit Alaskan resources to benefit corporate America and the existing U.S. states. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) established Alaska Native Corporations (ANCs), whose stock was distributed to qualifying Alaska Natives in exchange for their agreement to extinguish all aboriginal land claims. Guided by prior work in accounting and postmodern colonialism, our analysis uncovers ways in which ANCSA, though lauded by the U.S. government as an innovative and generous settlement, perpetuated a historical pattern of indigenous exploitation by western economic interests, and employed corporate accounting policies and techniques to further the interests of the U.S. government and large corporations at the expense of Native Alaskans.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act: conflict and controversy

Polar Record ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (142) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica E. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Alaska Native ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Alaska Natives ◽  
Aboriginal Peoples ◽  
Federal Legislation ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Land Settlement

ABSTRACTPending land claims by Alaska Natives were extinguished by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. This act marked the culmination of more than 100 years of expressed Federal concern for protection of land rights of aboriginal peoples within the region, starting with the 1867 Treaty of Cession. The Federal legislation provided both a cash and a land settlement, and mandated creation of corporations to manage the resulting assets. Two amendments, in 1976 and 1980, attempted to alleviate certain problems arising from the original act. Nonetheless, many difficulties with the act itself are becoming more apparent as the 1990s approach, and certain sections of the act such as taxation and stock alienation become activated. This paper discusses the major events leading to passage of the act, key provisions of the act, and the major controversies and conflicts facing Alaska Natives through the next two decades as a result of the legislation.

The ANCSA Amendments of 1987 and land management in Alaska

Polar Record ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (155) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas E. Flanders
Keyword(s):  
Alaska Native ◽  
Alaska Natives ◽  
Subsistence Economy ◽  
Subsistence Hunting ◽  
Property Taxation ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Alaska Native Corporations ◽  
Land Bank ◽  
Hunting And Fishing ◽  
Significant Factors

AbstractThe original Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, passed in 1971, gave Alaska Native corporations fee simple title to 18 million hectares of Alaskan land. Within a few years of its passage, however, Alaska Natives grew concerned that this land would be lost through mismanagement of the corporations or forced into development by property taxation. Because large numbers of Alaska Natives depend upon subsistence hunting and fishing, the loss of the land, or its use for activities incompatible with subsistence, could have been devastating. Amendments of 1987 (PL 100–241) protect Native corporation land by placing all undeveloped land in a land bank and allowing for the formation of ‘Settlement Trusts“. More importantly, Congress recognized that the Native subsistence economy and culture are significant factors in the management of Native lands.

American Indians fitting into Medical School

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Apanakhi Buckley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical School ◽  
American Indians ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
White Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alaska Natives ◽  
Indian Health Service ◽  
Native Women ◽  
Indian Health

This paper describes a qualitative study of how indigenous people experience medical school in the United States. Nine American Indians and Alaska Natives participated in the study: five women and four men. They came from eight different tribes, but they have asked me to protect their confidentiality, so I will not identify their tribes. Their ages ranged from 27 to 39. Five of them had children. Two of them were unmarried.In the United States, the need for indigenous physicians is great. Twice as many American Indians die from homicide and suicide as non-Indians in the United States (Wallace, Kirk, Houston, Amnest, and Emrich, 1993); three times as many die from accidents and more than four times as many die from alcoholism (Indian Health Service, 1996). Diabetes is rampant among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Women are the hardest hit (Gilliland, Gilliland, and Carter; 1997). More than five times as many American Indian and Alaska Native women die from diabetes than non-Latina white women.

Sovereignty, tribal government, and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Amendments of 1987

Polar Record ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (154) ◽  
pp. 197-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Morehouse
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
Alaska Natives ◽  
The Political ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Tribal Government ◽  
Federal Recognition ◽  
Tribal Governments ◽  
Modern Form

AbstractContemporary dimensions of a conflict over the political powers of Alaska Natives and their relationship to the larger society were set by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. This granted land and money to Alaska Natives, established corporations to use these assets, and ensured that the land and the corporations would remain under Native control until at least 1991. Under 1987 amendments to ANCSA, Congress extended these special protections indefinitely. Leaders of the tribal government movement in Alaska tried unsuccessfully to use the amendments to gain increased political power and federal recognition of Native tribes and tribal governments. They were opposed by federal authorities, Alaska's US senators, the State of Alaska, non-Native political interest groups, and Native leaders of the ANCSA corporations. Although stalled in this instance, the drive toward tribal government, or ‘sovereignty’, in Alaska remains a viable political movement. It is part of a continuing evolution of Native politics which in its modern form began with land claims and now includes a much broader concern for political claims of sovereignty, or inherent self-governing powers. In pursuing this course, however, tribal leaders will need to focus more on specific requirements for Native security and welfare than on general claims of sovereignty, and avoid direct confrontations with powerful opponents.

Ethnic Group Land Rights in the Modern State: Three Case Studies

1961 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 203-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Euler ◽  
Henry Dobyns
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Ethnic Enclave ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Modern State ◽  
The World ◽  
Scheduled Castes

All over the world, conflicts of interest arise in modern states between government agencies charged with constructing large public works and citizens whose occupancy of the lands involved would be altered. Such conflicts are compounded when the land in dispute is held by a special ethnic enclave enjoying unique legal status — Indians on reservations in the United States, ejidos in Mexico, or comunidades indígenas in Peró, aborgines in Australia, Maori in New Zealand, "scheduled castes" in India, etc.

scholarly journals The political ecology of climate adaptation assistance: Alaska Natives, displacement, and relocation

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Shearer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alaska Natives ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Army Corps

Although much research on climate change has focused on its disproportionate effects on the Global South, communities—particularly indigenous populations—within "developed" nations in the Global North can also face significant effects and inadequate assistance. One example is the native village and city of Kivalina in northwest Alaska. Through a case study of Kivalina, this article explores the gaps in U.S. policy for relocating Alaska Natives due to the effects of climate change. There is currently no policy in place—within the United States or internationally—for the resettlement of communities displaced by climate change. And in the United States there is no lead agency in charge of relocating displaced communities, despite several U.S. government reports stating that at least four Alaska Native villages, including Kivalina, must be resettled due to warming Arctic temperatures and erosion. This leaves government agencies in charge of assisting villages like Kivalina, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, who are responsible for helping ensure Kivalina's safety but are not empowered to innovate new procedures and holistically address what is an unprecedented problem: climate change. This has left Kivalina in what is termed here an administrative orbit, with residents made to work their way through a patchwork of various government programs and procedures that are time-consuming and often insufficient. In exploring these intra-national inequities, this article examines how a protocol specifically designed for those displaced by climate change, such as "climigration," could be merged with existing government efforts around emergency management to help prevent disasters before they occur, and to protect at-risk communities like Kivalina.Keywords: Disaster management; Alaska: environmentally induced migration; indigenous studies; resilience; displacement; relocation.

More than victims: Resiliency of undocumented Latinas near Chicago, United States, and the strategic use of psychological suffering in obtaining legal status

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-368
Author(s):  
Stephanie Jean Kohl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Law ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Psychological Suffering ◽  
Visa Application ◽  
Biological Citizenship

Caught between abusive partners and restrictive immigration law, many undocumented Latina women are vulnerable to domestic violence in the United States. This article analyzes the U-Visa application process experienced by undocumented immigrant victims of domestic violence and their legal advisors in a suburb of Chicago, United States. Drawing on theoretical concepts of structural violence and biological citizenship, the article highlights the strategic use of psychological suffering related to domestic violence by applicants for such visas. It also investigates the complex intersection between immigration law and a humanitarian clause that creates a path towards legal status and eventual citizenship.

Consular Protection and Solidarity across Borders

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Délano Alonso
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
Working Together

This chapter demonstrates how Latin American governments with large populations of migrants with precarious legal status in the United States are working together to promote policies focusing on their well-being and integration. It identifies the context in which these processes of policy diffusion and collaboration have taken place as well as their limitations. Notwithstanding the differences in capacities and motivations based on the domestic political and economic contexts, there is a convergence of practices and policies of diaspora engagement among Latin American countries driven by the common challenges faced by their migrant populations in the United States and by the Latino population more generally. These policies, framed as an issue of rights protection and the promotion of migrants’ well-being, are presented as a form of regional solidarity and unity, and are also mobilized by the Mexican government as a political instrument serving its foreign policy goals.

scholarly journals A Confluence of Policy Inequality: Health Disparities in Old Age Among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 37-37
Author(s):  
Sadie Giles
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Life Course ◽  
American Indian ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
Political History ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Racial health disparities in old age are well established, and new conceptualizations and methodologies continue to advance our understanding of health inequality across the life course. One group that is overlooked in many of these analyses, however, is the aging American Indian/Native Alaskan (AI/NA) population. While scholars have attended to the unique health inequities faced by the AI/NA population as a whole due to its discordant political history with the US government, little attention has been paid to unique patterns of disparity that might exist in old age. I propose to draw critical gerontology into the conversation in order to establish a framework through which we can uncover barriers to health, both from the political context of the AI/NA people as well as the political history of old age policy in the United States. Health disparities in old age are often described through a cumulative (dis)advantage framework that offers the benefit of appreciating that different groups enter old age with different resources and health statuses as a result of cumulative inequalities across the life course. Adding a framework of age relations, appreciating age as a system of inequality where people also gain or lose access to resources and status upon entering old age offers a path for understanding the intersection of race and old age. This paper will show how policy history for this group in particular as well as old age policy in the United States all create a unique and unequal circumstance for the aging AI/NA population.

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