The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in Alaska, as well as to stimulate economic development throughout Alaska.
Jay Greenfield, U.S. Senator Ted Stevens and AFN President Emil Notti discussing ANCSA in the Senate TV Studio in 1969.
Cliff Groh was one of a number of non-Native lawyers who assisted various Native organizations and AFN's president Emil Notti in achieving passage of ANCSA.
Alaska Governor Walter Hickel was appointed as President Nixon's Interior Secretary.
Ted Stevens was key in the bill's passage.
Alaska Natives
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Alaska Natives are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Alaskan Creoles, Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures. They are often defined by their language groups. Many Alaska Natives are enrolled in federally recognized Alaska Native tribal entities, who in turn belong to 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations, who administer land and financial claims.
Alaska Native Languages
Yupik mother and child, Nunivak Island, c. 1929; photographed by Edward S. Curtis.
Metlakahtla brass band