A rare confluence of historical events led to the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. It was the largest land claims settlement in U.S. history — a deal that created Alaska Native corporations with legal title to 44 million acres of land and almost a billion dollars in cash.
The discovery of oil on the North Slope and the need for a pipeline, as well as the national civil rights movement, gave the Native land claims fight momentum. Another factor that helped – the rise of a generation of young leaders, who were educated at boarding schools.
In this episode of ANCSA@50: The Journey Continues, Rhonda McBride talks with Jim LaBelle and Joaqlin Estus about the impact of Native boarding schools on ANCSA, how it created the social networks that helped Native leaders win the land claims fight.
LaBelle was an early Native corporation leader and later taught Alaska Native studies and history at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Estus is a longtime Alaska Native journalist and a national correspondent for Indian Country Today
Also, on this program:
- ANCSA as a work in progress. How it’s a living document – and much like the U.S. Constitution, has been amended many times to fix problems with the original legislation and to adapt to new situations.
- Insights into “A Matter of Trust,” a 1984 documentary on ANCSA, which asked the question: Could the federal government be trusted to uphold its end of the bargain?
Listen to the program:
This radio series is a companion program to KTOO 360TV’s Thursday night series, ANCSA@50: The Journey Continues. It airs on Juneau Afternoon on Thursday’s at 3:00 p.m. on KTOO Juneau 104.3. The rebroadcast airs at 7:00 p.m. on KTOO. You can also listen online at ktoo.org.
