The newsletters and annual reports of the Alaska Native corporations

Abstract

Hales is associate professor of l ibrary science at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library , Univers i ty of Alaska at Fairbanks. When Congress enacted the Alaska Native Claims Sett lement Act (ANCSA) on 18 December 1971, it not only implemented one of the most massive redistr ibutions of land ownership in the history of the Uni ted States, but also created a major agreement be tween the federal government and Nat ive Americans. Along with awarding the Alaska Natives about four mill ion acres of land and a monetary set t lement of $962.5 million, the act stipulated the establ ishment of twelve regional corporations to manage the money, resources, and lands of the Alaska Natives. A th i r teenth corporat ion was later added to take care of Alaska Natives living outside Alaska. A nonprof i t organizat ion was fo rmed to carry out the health, education, housing, employment , and other social programs of each of the thir teen Alaska Nat ive corporat ions. Most of the Nat ive corporat ions or their nonprof i t components present ly publish annual reports and newsletters. The annual reports generally provide overviews of the corporat ion 's activities for the year, f inancial s tatements , and general business activities. While the chief purpose of the newsletters has been to i n fo rm the shareholders of continuing activities and business dealings of the corporations, m a n y contain much more, such as historical articles about the Nat ive groups, their cultures, and leaders. There are also articles treat ing the many social changes of concern to the Nat ive Alaskans. The Nat ive corporat ions are involved in a mult ipl ic i ty of business ventures, in both Alaska and other parts of the world. Al though efforts are present ly being made to amend the Alaska Native Claims Sett lement Act, the law current ly stipulates that as of 18 December 1991, shareholders