Indigenous land tenure and land use in Alaska : community impacts of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

Abstract

Through the utilization of qualitative methods such as archival analysis, semi-structured interviewing, comparative and extended case studies, and observation, this paper closely examines two related Alaska Native communities. Our purpose is to document the impact of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) on land tenure, land use, and community structure. In all, 41 interviews were conducted, focusing on the following issues: (1) the role of the tribal government in relation to the regional and village corporate structure; (2) the recent changes in traditional land uses; and (3) how group decisions are made regarding land management and distribution of resources. By locating ANCSA within a broader context of economic, political, and cultural globalization that seeks to substitute traditional collective rights in land with individual tenure in a "free market" economy, the findings of this research may carefully and cautiously be applied beyond North America to other indigenous-state struggles regarding control of land and resources.