Discussion Question Response

Based on your reading in the webtext, select one of the following thesis statements. Your response should be two to three paragraphs in length.

1. The Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANCSA) and the Native corporation system have been good for Alaska Natives.

OR

2. ANCSA and the Native corporation system have been bad for Alaska Natives.

Next, revise the statement you have chosen to reflect the complexity of the historical events surrounding this issue. Provide specific examples of how ANCSA and the Native corporation system have had a positive or negative impact—or perhaps both—on Alaska Natives. Further illustrate the complexity of this issue by showing how the passage of ANCSA was contingent on at least three historical events or forces.

In response to your peers, reflect on their revised statement. Describe the ways you find it shows the complexity of the event, and provide a suggestion for how they can further develop the statement or the supporting examples.

1. Pierre Taylor – The Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANCSA) and the Native corporation system have been good for Alaska Natives.

Revised statement: The Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANCSA) and the Native corporation system have been financially good for Alaska Natives, benefiting the Native community. More than half of the top Alaska-owned business were Native regional corporations. Resulting in millions of dollars in dividends paid to shareholders. Native corporation created thousands of jobs for native shareholders and paid for Native student scholarships.

The passage of ANCSA was contingent on the government and the AFN coming to an agreement. The abundance of valuable natural resource on the Alaska native land was the main reason why the government wanted to strike a deal with the natives. The natives had political representation making it hard for the government to just take the land like they have done in the past. Awareness of past native mistreatment was also a factor when making this deal adding political pressure when negotiating a deal.

Response –

2. Brook Phillips – “The Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANCSA) and the Native corporation system have been good for Alaska Natives.”

This statement would better reflect the complexity of the historical events surrounding the ANCSA and the Native corporation system. The Alaska Native Regional Corporations (ANCSA) and the Native corporation system are great first steps that have been good for Alaska Natives. Through these steps, Natives can sustain themselves and their way of life.

I most appreciated the perspective presented in the article “ANCSA Unrealized: Our Lives Are Not Measured in Dollars.” In this article, authors Allaway and Mallott explained that the ANCSA has been both good and bad for Alaskan Natives. They acknowledge that living in a society that is capitalistic requires the same, “Yet in my reading of history, no racial minority will ever survive for long in a capitalistic society without having economic power or at least an economic ability to survive. ANCSA gives us that. So, from that standpoint, it is very, very meaningful” (Allaway & Mallott, 2005, p. 141). From this standpoint, it is clear that the economic ability to survive is important for an ethnic minority group. The ANCSA allows financial stability that enables the continued development of Native culture. Allaway and Mallott also point out how much stronger Native culture has become as a result of this economic stability.

I see a very different attitude today than I saw when I did my own village journey just after the passage of ANCSA. Today, I see a much stronger sense of being Native, of wanting to continue to define ourselves, and the lives of our children, as Native. In young people, the aspiration is evident in very powerful ways; for example, in Native dancing, in Native programs of all sorts in schools, including programs that are built around culture camps, spirit camps, communal meals, and Native art. The culture is not dying; in fact, it is being revised (Allaway & Mallott, 2005, P.142).

When I saw the topic for this week’s study and discussion, I instantly reached out to my sister who has been living in Alaska for the last twenty years. I asked her what her observations are of the ANCSA and the Native corporations. Her friends who are Native enjoy the economic stability that comes from the ANCSA for the most part. There are instances where Native corporations do not allow tribe members to participate in corporation events if they are not employees despite being part of that tribe and a shareholder. Another aspect of life in Alaska involving art, culture, and tradition is the stigma of Native art. A non-Native is not allowed to produce art in the same style as Alaskan Natives. I am in agreeance that the overall idea of ANCSA and Native corporations is a good starting point. And, as with all things, must change and get better over time.

Congrats everyone on another completed term! Good luck in completing your degree programs! Thank you for the wonderful and thought-provoking conversations this summer.

References

Allaway, J., & Mallott, B. (2005). Ancsa unrealized: Our lives are not measured in dollars. Journal of Land, Resources, & Environmental Law, 25(2), 139-148.

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