![]() ![]() From the time of purchase until the passage of ANCSA, aboriginal land claims were not definitively addressed by the federal government. More than 100 years prior to the enactment of ANCSA, Alaska was purchased from Russia. To understand ANCSA, it is important to understand the history of aboriginal land claims in Alaska. By creating Alaska Native-owned, for-profit corporations, ANCSA also brought additional economic diversity to the state that has benefited, either directly or indirectly, all Alaskans. Since the passage of ANCSA, various industries have been strengthened in Alaska, creating jobs in both the private and public sectors. Oil and gas exploration on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System created thousands of jobs and pumped revenues into the state coffers eventually leading to the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund. The passage of ANCSA allowed for federal lease sales to move forward across Alaska, with proceeds going to the federal government. The federal government also compensated the newly formed Alaska Native corporations a total of $962.5 million for land lost in the settlement agreement.ĪNCSA had expansive effects, reaching far beyond Alaska Native people. Through ANCSA, the federal government transferred 44 million acres – land to be held in corporate ownership by Alaska Native shareholders – to Alaska Native regional and village corporations. Unlike in the lower-48 states where the reservation system was the norm, ANCSA departed significantly – its foundation was in Alaska Native corporate ownership. ANCSA also mandated that both regional and village corporations be owned by enrolled Alaska Native shareholders. It divided the state into twelve distinct regions and mandated the creation of twelve private, for-profit Alaska Native regional corporations and over 200 private, for-profit Alaska Native village corporations. ANCSA extinguished aboriginal land title in Alaska. ![]() The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) was a new approach by Congress to federal Indian policy. “It is a complicated legacy,” Rubin said.Image Courtesy of Alaska Digital Archives Rubin said he is proud of his art but also wants to encourage discussion about Seward, who helped Lincoln produce the Emancipation Proclamation and sold land to Harriet Tubman that was used as part of the Underground Railroad. Seward was an imperfect figure, but his legacy in Alaska is important, said Dave Rubin, the artist who crafted the statue with his sister, Judith. “His imperialistic vision was founded on white supremacy.” “Seward embodied Manifest Destiny,” Worl said in a letter to the Juneau Empire. Sealaska Heritage Institute President Rosita Worl said removing the statue would be consistent with long-held views of Southeast Alaska Native residents. LaRoe suggested replacing Seward’s statue with a monument to Alaska civil rights icon Elizabeth Peratrovich. Sara Hannan, both Democrats, whose districts include downtown Juneau.Įfforts to reach Kiehl and Hannan were not immediately successful. The statue is owned by the State of Alaska, which also owns Dimond Courthouse Plaza where the statue is located, making the state responsible for its removal. “(Alaska Natives) didn’t sell their land to the U.S., and that wrong has never been corrected,” LaRoe said. The statue is a symbol of white, patriarchal authority and the disenfranchisement of Alaska Natives, she said. The opposition to the statue is not based on Seward himself, said LaRoe, who acknowledged his role as an abolitionist in President Abraham Lincoln’s administration. The purchase arranged by the secretary of state was ridiculed at the time as “Seward’s Folly” by critics who also called the territory “Seward’s Icebox.” The $250,000 statue unveiled in 2017 depicts Seward holding the 1867 Treaty of Cession, which authorized the sale of the Alaska Territory to the U.S. ![]()
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