Kodiak Area... Brief overview and/or explanation of what the difference is between: Regional Corporations, Regional Nonprofits, village corporations, and Tribes. And how they came to be through ANCSA.

Quick History In the 1700’s Russians came to “Alaska” and under the doctoring of discovery claimed the land. This meant that under the rule of discovery they owned everything... ...everything except the aboriginal rights. Aleut in Festival Dress in Alaska, Watercolor by Russian artist Mikhail T. Tikhanov, 1818

What are aboriginal rights and how are they settled?? Aboriginal rights otherwise know as Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the preservation of their land, language, religion, and other elements of cultural heritage that are a part of their existence as a people. So...how are they settled? ...they needed to be... bought, negotiated OR concord. Before the Russians sold what would be Alaska to the United States they did NOT handle the aboriginal rights...

1959 Alaska became a State 1968 The governor summoned a group of native leaders to create a settlement to deal with the aboriginal rights. 1968 they also discover oil in Prudhoe Bay, this made settling an agreement more urgent. After a considerable amount of back and forth, in 1971 the Alaska Natives Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Nixon.

Because of these negotiations put into action with ANCSA; Natives received money and land. This money and land was divided up between regional, urban, and village corporations.

In short: ANCSA created the 12 native regional economic development corporations. ( A 13th corperation was later formed to deal with natives who had left the state)

What is the Regional Native Corporation For Kodiak?

The Regional Native Corporation for the Kodiak Area is... Koniag, Incorporated

ANCSA created over 200 village corporations in Alaska... ... There are 13 Village Corporations in the Kodiak area... ... Can you name 5?...

Kodiak area Village Corporations Native Village Corporation Name Community Name Alaska Native Regional Corporation Afognak Native Corporation Afognak/ Port Lions Koniag, Incorporated Akhiok-Kaguyak, Inc. Akhiok/ Kaguyak Koniag, Incorporated Anton Larsen Inc. Anton Larsen Bay Koniag, Incorporated Bells Flats Native Group Inc. Bells Flats Koniag, Incorporated Karluk Native Corporation Karluk Koniag, Incorporated Leisnoi, Inc. Woody Island Koniag, Incorporated Litnik Inc. Litnik Koniag, Incorporated Native of Kodiak Inc. Kodiak Koniag, Incorporated Nu-Nachk Pit Inc. Larsen Bay Koniag, Incorporated Old Harbor Native Corporation Old Harbor Koniag, Incorporated Ouzinkie Native Corporation Ouzinkie Koniag, Incorporated Shuyak Inc. Port William Koniag, Incorporated Uyak, Inc. Uyak Koniag, Incorporated

There are around 250 small rural communities scattered throughout the Alaska bush. In 1971 when Alaska Native land claims was settled by enacting the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), Congress designated more than 200 of those communities as “Native villages” (what we refer to as “tribes”) for the purposes of ANCSA. See 43 U.S.C. 1610(b)(1) To be a “Native village” Congress required a community to be “not of a modern and urban character” and to on the 1970 census enumeration date have had twenty-five or more Native residents who collectively were a majority of community residents. See 43 U.S.C. 1610(b)(3). Congress defined the term “Native” as “a citizen of the United States who is a person of one-fourth degree or more Alaska Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut blood, or combination thereof.” See 43 U.S.C. section 1602(b).

Federally recognized Tribes in the Kodiak Area Native Village of Afognak Native Village of Akhiok Kaguyak Tribal Council Native Village of Karluk Native Village of Larsen Bay Lesnoi Village Village of Old Harbor Native Village of Ouzinkie Native Village of Port Lions Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak

FACT: Federally Recognized Tribes are Nations. This means that they have a Government to Government relationship with the Federal Government. AND...It is important to note when talking about this sovereign relationship... ...no one gave Indian Tribes anything, it was already theirs. As Tribes they are inherently and organically sovereign...

Where does KANA fit into all this???

It was Ted Stevens vision to have 12 regions to handle all the tribes It was Ted Stevens vision to have 12 regions to handle all the tribes. Ted Steven felt that there were too many Tribes in Alaska and they needed to be regionalized- now you can see where ANCSA came up with the 12 regional corporations... The problem with that is Tribes are Nations and sovereign, you can not just get rid of tribes... ...however... around the same time as ANCSA, Each of the regional profit corporations (such as Koniag) formed a separate regional nonprofit corporations (such as KANA) to assist their members with health and social services...

It is important to note: KANA only exists through the resolutions from Tribal Governments in the Koniag region. The Federal Government CAN NOT talk to KANA without those resolutions provided by the Tribes. It is politically, NOT racial based... The United States government makes it illegal to discriminate against race, national origin, or ancestor. So its important to be clear that the benefits received through KANA are based on the Government to Government relationships of the Tribes that have resolutions with KANA. The Government does not work with Tribes because they are Native, that would be considered discrimination. The Government works with the tribes because of the sovereign relationship already in place. Side Note: Regional Corporations, Village Corporations and Regional Nonprofits DO NOT have a sovereign government to government relationship with the Federal Government ONLY Tribes have this relationship.

To sum everything up... ANCSA created village and regional corporations, and in effect regional nonprofits. Kodiak’s regional corporation is Koniag. Kodiak’s regional nonprofit is KANA. Kodiak area has 13 Village corporations. Kodiak area has 10 Federally recognized tribes. Federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations. This means they have a Government to Government relationship with the federal Government. This is not true for village, or regional corporations. This is also not true for the regional nonprofits.

Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak 312 West Marine Way Kodiak, AK 99615 907-486-4449 tribalcourt@sunaq.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Native_Regional_Corporations http://www.propublica.org/article/what-are-alaska-native-corporations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Native_Claims_Settlement_Act http://www.kanaweb.org/ https://www.afognak.com/about/ http://www.aki-kodiak.com/who-we-are