The 13th Regional Corporation - A Landless Corporation

A Landless Corporation

With the sole exception of the 13th Regional Corporation, all other ANCSA Corporations received three separate methods of compensation in settlement of their Alaska Native land claims. Those three compensations were A)Cash, B)Land and C)a revenue sharing program called 7(i). The 13th Regional Corporation only received A)Cash (There is the misconception that the 13th received more cash per capita than the other corporations. The 13th received the same amount per capita as all others). ANCSA does not provide an explanation as to why the 13th Regional Corporation and its more than 4,000 Alaska Native Shareholders were denied equal treatment.

As important as the first two compensations of A)Cash and B)Land were, without questions the most critical and financial sustaining to all other ANCSA Corporations (Both Region and Villages) was the final compensation of C) 7(i) program. The 7(i) program provided all other ANCSA Corporations with an annual recapitalization worth millions of dollars to each of the 12 ANCSA Region. It has been said that without the annual supply of 7(i)recapitalization funds, at least 8 of the 12 regional corporation would be insolvent today. The fact that the 13th Regional Corporation lasted more than 30 years without any access to 7(i) funding in any form is nothing short of amazing. It is also noteworthy that in the year that the 13th became insolvent with an outstanding obligation of approximately $2.5 million, if it had participated equally with the other 12 regions, it would have received approximately $5 million in 7(i) funding and not have been insolvent.

Unlike the other corporations created under ANCSA, The 13th was denied by Congress from receiving ANCSA land as was provided the other 12 regions. If Congress had not inexplicitly denied the 13th land, their entitlement would have been approximately 1.2 million acres. Because the 13th shareholders did not receive a just an equal entitlement of land they have been denied any share in 7(i) revenues generated through sales of minerals, timber, and other valuable resources or development of selected lands through the revenue pooling provisions of ANCSA, as do the original 12 corporations and their shareholders. This difference has created two generations of 13th shareholders who feel that they have been unfairly and inequatably disregarded by Congress and their close relatives in the other 12 regions. The question for Congress and the 12 regionals is was it ANCSA's intention that each Alaska Native would receive a "fair and equitable settlement" of aboriginal land claims. Can it be said that a "fair and equitable settlement" was achieved if 5,000 Alaska Natives have been denied what has been annually provided to 75,000 of their relatives, for 40 years?