Analysis: Alaska Native corporations confront some big issues

Monday, October 17, 2011  

"Alaska Native corporations have become financial powerhouses in Alaska. In 2010, eight of the 10 top corporations in Alaska, in terms of gross revenues, were owned by Alaska Natives and four of these grossed more than $1 billion, according to Alaska Business Monthly magazine’s Top 49er list of companies.Alaska Native corporations have become financial powerhouses in Alaska. In 2010, eight of the 10 top corporations in Alaska, in terms of gross revenues, were owned by Alaska Natives and four of these grossed more than $1 billion, according to Alaska Business Monthly magazine’s Top 49er list of companies.

That’s good news for Alaska, but there are still problems for the corporation to resolve, and structural issues that could raise other problems down the road.

On the table now is the fact that not all of the 45 million acres due the Native corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act have been transferred 40 years after passage of ANCSA. The biggest land deficiency is in Southeast, where Sealaska Corp. is still working to get a major part of its land entitlement.

There are a lot of reasons for the delays, including budget issues for the U.S. Department of Interior, which must do surveys and other work related to the transfers.

There are other land issues, including village land selection overlaps with state land selections, which are also holding up final title to Native allotments, the 160-acre tracts that individual Natives can own privately once title is cleared."

Get the Story:
Native corporations doing well, for now, but problems still loom (The Alaska Journal of Commerce 10/13)