The Corporate Whale: ANCSA: Ten Years Later; The History

<v Speaker>Five, four, three, two, one. <v Speaker>Ladies and gentlemen, of the AFN this is the White House in Washington <v Speaker>calling. I present the President of the United States. <v President Richard Nixon>I appreciate this opportunity to extend my greetings and best wishes to the convention of <v President Richard Nixon>the Alaska Federation of Natives. <v President Richard Nixon>I want you to be among the first to know that I have just signed the Alaska Native <v President Richard Nixon>Claims Settlement Act. This is a milestone in the lives of history. <v President Richard Nixon>[music] <v Speaker>The Corporate Whale: ANCSA: The First 10 years. <v Speaker>The Reverend McCauliffe, St. George Island. <v Reverend McCauliffe>This land of Alaska, which thou gave to our ancestors who had come <v Reverend McCauliffe>and gone before us, is now being handed to us a second <v Reverend McCauliffe>time by the Act of the United States Congress and our <v Reverend McCauliffe>untiring efforts, a second chance is given to us

<v Reverend McCauliffe>by thee to be the new custodians and caretakers. <v Host>On December 16, 1981, several hundred Indian, Eskimo, <v Host>and Aleut leaders gathered in a university cafeteria in Anchorage, Alaska, <v Host>to consider the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, ANCSA. <v Host>For three days, they met and discussed the bill, a bill that offered compensation <v Host>of nearly half a billion dollars and close to one ninth of the state's total land <v Host>in exchange for relinquishing all further Aboriginal claims to that land. <v Host>The dollar amount and the vastness of the territory impressed many. <v Host>Some predicted that Alaska Natives would become the sheiks of the North, comparing the <v Host>imminent financial windfall and potential gain for resource development with <v Host>the Middle East. Others, especially residents of Alaska's oil rich Arctic slope, <v Host>felt the settlement was not a just exchange for claims to land that their ancestors <v Host>occupied and used from, as they said, time immemorial.

<v Host>Now, 10 years after convention delegates agreed to the bill hammered out by Congress <v Host>and its signing into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, <v Host>Alaska Natives have received the money, but are custodians and caretakers of less <v Host>than one half of the expected lands. <v Host>This 10 part series, The Corporate Whale, will listen to some of the events leading <v Host>to the land claims settlement, the mechanisms that were employed to manage the Act, <v Host>government agencies and native corporations, hear how leaders assess the first 10 <v Host>years and predictions for 1991. <v Host>[music] <v Host>In 1971, the year ANSCA became law, Alaska was represented

<v Host>in Congress by the late Nick Begich in the House and Mike Revelle and Ted Stevens <v Host>in the Senate. <v Ted Stevens>Ted Stevens, and I'm still a United States senator. <v Ted Stevens>I think one of the key questions was the amount of land in the settlement. <v Ted Stevens>In the beginning, that had been listed about 10, <v Ted Stevens>11 million acres and there were a series <v Ted Stevens>of Native leaders involved at that time who were <v Ted Stevens>insisting that there had to be 40 million acres <v Ted Stevens>at least, and they- members <v Ted Stevens>of the House and the Senate on both political parties kept saying, <v Ted Stevens>you know, here- you people must come up with our state recommendation <v Ted Stevens>on these various issues. And we're not going to decide whether the state of Alaska is <v Ted Stevens>right or the Native groups to the AFN or the members of Congress, You <v Ted Stevens>just cannot present this case to us for a settlement, a unique legislative

<v Ted Stevens>settlement, without some unanimity. <v Ted Stevens>And we finally did get together and worked out a series of, uh, positions <v Ted Stevens>which reflected, uh, a I think <v Ted Stevens>a fairly unified approach. <v Ted Stevens>And that was when the bill finally moved. <v Host>Willy Hensley is now president of NANA Development Corporation, a Native corporation <v Host>subsidiary and chairman of a Native owned bank, United Bank, Alaska. <v Host>He has been a state legislator and president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, and <v Host>he's been very active lobbying Congress in Washington, DC. <v Willy Hensley>We had us a lot of <v Willy Hensley>trouble with the ideas that were involved in and <v Willy Hensley>in the approaches that Congress was <v Willy Hensley>trying to impose because frankly, they wanted to make the settlement like <v Willy Hensley>a sieve. You know that as you put all the land and money up here in this big funnel and <v Willy Hensley>all of a sudden swoosh it- it's you know, it gets passed out throughout the society and

<v Willy Hensley>basically, again, into non-native hands through business. <v Host>Business interests were, in fact, powerful influences and moving Congress and the <v Host>executive branch toward a settlement. <v Host>In 1968, Arco announced that significant amounts of oil had been discovered <v Host>on the North Slope on lands traditionally used by the Inupiaq Eskimos. <v Host>On December 17, 1971, Joe Upicksoun of Barrow, President <v Host>of the Arctic Slope Native Association addressed the delegates assembled in Anchorage. <v Joe Upicksoun>The Congress is making this settlement for just one reason, because <v Joe Upicksoun>the oil of the North Slope is owned by the Inupiaq Eskimos of the <v Joe Upicksoun>Arctic Slope. <v Joe Upicksoun>As it turns out, the pressure the pipeline simply has required the Congress <v Joe Upicksoun>to move. <v Host>Don Wright, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives and lobbyist for the <v Host>settlement, wanted to capitalize on that congressional movement. <v Host>He knew the long history, the years of struggle to obtain that document. <v Host>He knew that the Arctic Slope would not accept its conditions.

<v Host>And Congress and the president were waiting to hear from the delegates, many of them <v Host>having their first close look at ANSC 29 crowded pages. <v Don Wright>The Congress of the United States has acted on a <v Don Wright>piece of legislation that will make history not <v Don Wright>only for the state of Alaska, but for the United States <v Don Wright>and for the world. <v Don Wright>To the best of my knowledge, a land <v Don Wright>transaction such as this has never taken place <v Don Wright>anywhere in the world before. <v Don Wright>It's been the history of most nations to deal <v Don Wright>in total with other nations, each recognizing <v Don Wright>sovereignty that was gained by force of arms. <v Don Wright>The Congress of the United States at this time has truly recognized <v Don Wright>Aboriginal title that is vested

<v Don Wright>in you people and left to you as <v Don Wright>an inheritance by your forefathers. <v Don Wright>Some of us individually may have thoughts <v Don Wright>about the fairness of this legislation. <v Don Wright>Some of us no doubt are not satisfied totally. <v Don Wright>The wording in this document is very complex and difficult. <v Don Wright>It says things that will be interpreted by lawyers <v Don Wright>in different ways. <v Don Wright>It was intended to be a total settlement. <v Don Wright>[Recording Attendance] <v Host>The room was divided into 13 areas, corresponding to the 12 regional corporations <v Host>set out in the act, plus the potential 13th Regional Corporation for <v Host>Alaska Natives living outside of the state.

<v Host>The group's caucused, discussing pros and cons in the vote they would cast, <v Host>votes that could prompt a Presidential veto and more years of claiming not getting <v Host>title to land. <v Representative>There are some things, you know, granted that we don't like about it that we <v Representative>would rather have folks on the Senate and the House side. <v Representative>The fact of the matter is that we live with this bill as- <v Representative>I personally wouldn't want to take the chance of having a bill vote ?inaudible? <v Representative 2> My recommendation would be based on everything we have heard, <v Representative 2>that we go ahead and prepare to accept <v Representative 2>and that we also, as a part of this recommendation, <v Representative 2>start to line out the improvements we want to make in the bill. <v Representative 2>And obviously the bill requires some clarifications, some improvements. <v Representative 2>And I'm the first to concede we're not perfectly happy with the bill. <v George Miller>I'm George Miller. I represent the Cook Inlet region, the biggest city <v George Miller>Indian village in Alaska, Anchorage, Kenai, Tyonek,

<v George Miller>Ninilchik, Iliamna, Seldovia, and the region <v George Miller>of Cook Inlet recommends the signature <v George Miller>of the President of the United States to signed the bill. <v Don Wright>Are there any other regional chairmen that wish to comment? <v Cecil Barnes>My name is Cecil Barnes. I represent Region 11, the Chugach Native Association. <v Cecil Barnes>And it is recommendation of the Delegation of the Chugach Native Association that the <v Cecil Barnes>President sign the bill into law. <v Don Wright>Are there any other regions that wish to speak? <v Don Wright>?inaudible? ?chief? <v Host> The general feeling of region after region <v Host>was that while the Alaskan Native Land Claims Settlement Act was an imperfect instrument, <v Host>it could be worked with and fine tuned later. <v Host>Amidst all the positive sentiment, an elderly Tlingit man came to the podium, <v Host>William Paul, senior attorney and first Native member of the Territorial House <v Host>of Representatives.

<v William Paul>My theme right now is this. <v William Paul>As I said long time ago, the land is ours. <v William Paul>What are you afraid? <v William Paul>No we've gone through a struggle, it seems to be terminating at this time. <v William Paul>And it seems to me that you are going to approve of this. <v William Paul>But I want <v William Paul>to tell you today that you ought not being guided by your fear. <v William Paul>The United States Congress admits that we have a legal right to the land. <v William Paul>It is ours. In order to satisfy our legal rights, they are <v William Paul>offering us the turkey buzzard. <v William Paul>[music] <v Don Wright>Would the secretary please read the motion?

<v Secretary>Motion made by ?inaudible? is to recommend that the President- President's signature <v Secretary>be put on the Land Claims bill and was seconded by Harvey Samuelson. <v Don Wright>Uh, the question was called last evening and we're to take the vote at this time. <v Don Wright>So, the secretary will call the roll. <v Don Wright>A yes vote will be approving for the President of the United States <v Don Wright>to sign the bill into law. <v Secretary>This will be a yes or no vote. <v Secretary>Tlingit and Haida, A and B. <v Central Council of Southeast Alaska Representative>Central Council of Southeast Alaska votes yes. <v Secretary>Central Council Southeast Alaska votes yes. <v Secretary>?inaudible? Fairbanks Native Association. <v Canada Fairbanks Native Association Representative>The Canada Fairbanks Native Association votes yes.

<v Secretary>Fairbanks Native Association votes yes. <v Secretary>Arctic Slope. <v Artic Slope Representative>No. <v Secretary>Arctic Slope votes no. Kotzebue NANA. <v Kotzebue NANA Representative>Yes. <v Secretary>Kotzebue NANA votes yes. Tyonek. <v Tyonek Representative>Tyonek votes yes. <v Secretary>Tyonek votes yes. <v Secretary>Washington Chapter. <v Washington Chapter Representative>Washington Chapter votes no ?inaudible?. <v Secretary>Washington Chapter votes no. The total number of votes is 567. <v Secretary>A total of 511 yes <v Secretary>and 56 no. [music] <v Host>With only the Artic Slope and Washington regions dissenting, the delegates to

<v Host>the December 1971 Alaska Federation of Natives convention overwhelmingly <v Host>accepted public law 92- 203 AFN President <v Host>Don Wright. <v Don Wright>We're starting on a new era, the post settlement era. <v Don Wright>[music] <v Host>You have been listening to the Corporate Whale: ANCA, The First 10 years, <v Host>the first program in a 10 part series written and produced by Karen Michel <v Host>McPherson with technical assistance from Phil Falkowski. <v Host>Funding was provided by KUAC sponsors and the Alaska Native Human Resources <v Host>Development Program of the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Alaska. <v Host>Special thanks to the historical tape collection of the University of Alaska Archives <v Host>and musicians Hurby Vent, Buddy Tabor and Fred Westermann. <v Host>Cassette copies of this program are available for $5 from Educational <v Host>Media Services Star Route Box 20155 Fairbanks, <v Host>Alaska 99701.