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11 NARF Legal Rev. 1 (1985-1986)

handle is hein.journals/narf11 and id is 1 raw text is: IGH Native American Rights Fund Summer 1986 Alaska Native Tribes Battle Discrimination From the purchase of Alaska in 1867 to the Alaska Native Caims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, Federal officials have generally taken the position that Alaska Native tribes have the same legal status as tribes in the lower 48. Since 1971, however, the Interior Department has waffled on this issue and occasionally argued that ANCSA impliedly extinguished at least some tribal rights. Tbe position of the State on the other hand has been perfectly clear. The State maintains that aside from the Metlakatla Tribe, there are no tribes inAlaska and that even if there were, their gov- ernmentalpower was extinguished by ANSA. As a result, for the past 26years the governmentalauthor- ity of Alaska tribes has been chal lenged at every turn and they have been the constant subjects of dis- crimination and oppression. Alaska Natives are demanding that their inherent rights be recog- nized and respected. This battle to achieve equality with their sister tribes to the South is now beng renewed in Washington as Con- gress considers amendments to ANCSA before the Native protec- tions in it expire on December 18, 1991. At the same time, overly re- strictive regulations which deng Native subsistence rights are being battled in the courts. The Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act was passed in 1971 to settle the aboriginal claims of Alas- ka's Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians. Federal law recognizes the right of Native people to use and occupy traditional areas free of outside in- terference until their aboriginal title has been extinguished. By the late 1960's Native land claims had clouded the title to most of Alaska and created a barrier to the devel- opment of oil on the North Slope. ANCSA settled these claims and removed that barrier. ANCSA was fundamentally dif- ferent from earlier Native land claim settlements in several respects. It established a complex landholding system with title vested in Native corporations rather than tribes. The lands of these corporations are not held in trust by the federal gov- ernment nor protected against alienation as are tribal lands in the lower 48. Rather, over 200 Native corporations created by ANCSA obtained unrestricted title to the lands they received. Aboriginal hunting and fishing rights, which are generallyprotected by treaty in the lower 48, were extinguished by ANCSA, but with the expectation that the State of Alaska and Secre- tary of Interior would protect the subsistence needs of Natives. With respect to the 200 Native tribes whose land claims were being settled, ANCSA is strangely silent. (continued on next page) Photography @ James H. Barker Digitized from Best Copy Available Bob Anderson and Lare Aschenbrenner NARF Staff Attorneys Standing Firm for Justice

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