Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Claims Settlement
The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) is an organization founded in 1912 by thirteen Native Alaskans in Sitka, primarily aimed at securing citizenship and civil rights for Alaska Natives. Initially influenced by Presbyterian missionaries, the ANB’s early efforts included advocacy for civil rights while also promoting the abandonment of traditional Indigenous languages and customs—a stance that evolved by the 1960s to embrace cultural preservation. Throughout its history, the ANB has actively fought for voting rights and economic development, playing a key role in significant legislative changes such as the passage of the Antidiscrimination Act of 1946 and the extension of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act to include Alaska.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), enacted on December 18, 1971, was pivotal in addressing land rights disputes. It extinguished Aboriginal title claims to most of Alaska in exchange for $962.5 million and the establishment of twelve regional and over two hundred village corporations. These corporations were tasked with managing the land and funds to benefit Alaska Natives, while also facing challenges regarding potential corporate exploitation. The ANB continues to advocate for Native rights and participates in various initiatives, including scholarship programs, highlighting its ongoing commitment to the welfare of Alaska Native communities.
On this Page
Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Claims Settlement
In Sitka in 1912, thirteen Native Alaskans formed the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) in order to obtain citizenship for Alaska Natives. The founders, heavily influenced by Presbyterian missionaries, in addition to fighting for civil rights, urged the abandonment of traditional Indigenous languages and customs, a position the organization reversed in the 1960s.
The ANB was active in the pursuit of voting rights and citizenship for Alaska Natives. In 1922, an ANB leader and attorney, William Paul, successfully defended his great-uncle Chief Shakes against the felony charge of voting illegally, thus winning the right to vote two years before Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924.
The brotherhood led a series of boycotts against businesses that discriminated against Alaskan Natives, and in 1946 lobbied successfully for the passage of the Antidiscrimination Act by the territorial legislature. It also successfully lobbied Congress to extend the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act to include Alaska. This contributed significantly to economic development in southeastern Alaska by enabling several Indigenous villages to apply for federal loans to purchase fishing boats and canneries. The brotherhood’s organized efforts to secure land rights for Alaska Natives were a precursor to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.
Although Alaska had been part of the United States since 1867, treaties had established only six small reservations in southeastern Alaska. The vast majority of the eighty thousand Indigenous peoples in Alaska continued to claim Aboriginal title (and therefore fishing, hunting, and other land rights) to the 400 million acres that make up the state of Alaska. A number of land use and Native rights controversies in the 1960s led to the creation of the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) in October 1966. The AFN carried out most of the formal negotiations and lobbying leading up to the signing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) on December 18, 1971.
The act extinguished the Aboriginal title to all but 44 million acres of land in exchange for $962.5 million. The previously established reservations and the existing tribal governments were dissolved, and twelve regional and more than two hundred village corporations were created to replace them. The twelve regional corporations, corresponding to historical and cultural groupings of Alaska Natives, divided the land and the $962.5 million. A thirteenth corporation, established for Natives living outside the state, received cash only. Of the land received, half was to be conveyed to the village corporations within each region. A portion of the cash settlement was also to be shared with the village corporations empowered to develop and operate community businesses. Because the regional corporations were expected to invest in more grandiose enterprises, they were given greater powers to develop land and to tax those operating within their zones. Both regional and village corporations were expected to make a profit for their Native shareholders.
Initially, the act provided for stock ownership only for Alaskan Natives born prior to the date of enactment. It also established a twenty-year period during which corporate lands and profits could not be taxed and individual stocks could not be sold. This moratorium was set to expire in 1991, creating fears that the corporations and the lands they held would become vulnerable to non-Native corporate raiders or be sold to satisfy debts. Congress responded by amending the act in 1988. The amendment provided for the establishment of “settlement trusts” to which corporate lands may be conveyed. The trusts, and therefore the land held by them, cannot be transferred from Native control. Congress also permitted the corporations to amend their own articles of incorporation in order to issue new stock to those born after 1971 and to prevent the sale of stock to outsiders.
The ANB remained active into the twenty-first century, and they continued to fight for Native rights and supported the civil rights of other marginalized groups. They hosted annual conventions and, in 2017, began a scholarship program.
Bibliography
“About the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.” ANCSA Regional Association, ancsaregional.com/about-ancsa/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
“About Us.” Alaska Native Brotherhood, www.anbansgc.org/about-us/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Carroll, Jennifer. "'Then Fight for It' Alaska Native Brotherhood and The Fight for Land and Fishing Rights' by Judith Daxootsu Ramos.” Department of Alaska Native Studies and Rural Development, 10 Dec. 2021, dansrd.community.uaf.edu/2021/12/10/then-fight-for-it-alaska-native-brotherhood-and-the-fight-for-land-and-fishing-rights-by-judith-daxootsu-ramos/. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Case, David S., and David A. Voluck. Alaska Natives and American Laws. 3rd ed., U of Alaska P, 2012.
Metcalfe, Peter. A Dangerous Idea: The Alaska Native Brotherhood and the Struggle for Indigenous Rights. U of Alaska P, 2014.
Naske, Claus M., and Herman E. Slotnick. Alaska: A History. U of Oklahoma P, 2014.
Pevar, Stephen. The Rights of Indians and Tribes. Oxford UP, 2012.
Singel, Wenona T. "Indian Tribes and Human Rights Accountability." San Diego Law Review, vol. 49, 2012, pp. 11.