Resource World Magazine

A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 27 I n addition to its sizeable land mass of 1.7 million km 2 , nearly six times the state of Nevada with over 4,400 known gold prospects and 2,700 occurrences of other minerals, includ- ing some of the world's largest deposits, Alaska also offers one of most progressive native land claims settlement agreements in the world. It allows Alaska's natives to share in the proceeds and exert control over their resources through the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act of 1971. The natives of Alaska have long inhabited this vast northern state. Until 1867, the territory was under Russian control. In 1867, then US Secretary of State, William Seward, arranged to buy the territory for $7.2 million, or approximately $0.02 per acre. Originally known as Seward's Folly as many did not see the advantage in buying this vast tract of land that was largely cut off from most of the United States, Seward was soon vindicated with the discovery of gold in the 1890s and the ensuing rush of prospectors and settlers. When Russia sold Alaska to the United States under the Treaty of Cession, the purchase was completed with no consultation, no protection nor recognition of the Alaskan native. The territory was originally established under military rule. The Organic Act of 1884 provided for the establishment of a civilian government and allowed those who had located mines or minerals the abil - ity to perfect their title, and also provided that "Indians or other persons shall not be disturbed in the possession of any lands actually in their use or occupation or now claimed by them but the terms under which such persons may acquire title to such lands is reserved for future legislation by Congress." Effectively not resolving land claims but rather passing it down the line for future Congresses to resolve. The issue, despite several other legislative attempts, remained largely unresolved. Although both the Organic Act of 1884 and the Statehood Act of 1958 acknowledged the need to recognize the rights of Natives to their lands neither provided a clear path to land title. The Statehood Act permitted the State of Alaska to select 140 million acres of land and, although the Act recognized that Native lands were exempt from selection by the State, the lands were nevertheless selected, setting up an inherent conflict. By the early 1960s, native villages began to organize and assert claims to their land and by 1966 the Alaskan Federation of Natives (AFN) was established. Subsequently, the Secretary of the Interior (Stewart Udall) halted all further state selections until such time as the native land claim issues were resolved by Congress. Between 1966 and 1971 the AFN worked towards resolving land claims and establishing themselves as a significant political force in the State. Their efforts culminated in the passage of the Alaska Native Land Claim Settlement Act (ANCSA) on December 18, 1971. Signed into law by President Nixon, the Act granted 44 million acres of land and paid $1 billion dollars over time to the Natives of Alaska through the corporations. ANCSA created 12 regional native corporations and over 200 village corporations whose shareholders were Alaskan natives on December 18, 1971. The shareholder base was subsequently amended to include "after borns" – natives born in the ensuing 20 years. The 12 corporations own an aggregate 44 million acres of land, which includes native ownership of both the subsurface and surface mineral and resource rights whilst later a 13th corpo - ration was created for natives who no longer resided in the State. One of the stipulations of this landmark legislation was that only one Regional Native corporation could own a given acre of land at any given time, eliminating the possibility of multiple Native land claims on a single parcel of land. In addition, the legislation provides that all Native Alaskan corporations share amongst themselves in the benefit from mineral activity under the 7(i) and 7(j) provisions. These provide for royalty sharing among the corporations as well as opportunities for jobs and business partnerships for their shareholders. The incredibly successful Teck – NANA partnership provides an excellent case history for successful revenue shar - ing. NANA Corporation is the regional native corporation and the underlying landowner at the Red Dog Mine. Of the $247 million received in 2017 as net proceeds from continued on page 61 Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement — An example for others? by Kristina Walcott MINING Source: Rand McNally.

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