Post by Okwes on Jan 29, 2008 17:48:44 GMT -5
Native aid to statehood little known
The 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood this year presents an important
opportunity to nurture community and a sense of place for Alaska
residents by providing information on how Alaska came to be what it is
from what it was. This is especially true for the 72 percent of
non-Native Alaskans not born in the state, one consequence of which is
that many have little knowledge of its history. (Only 38 percent of the
present 670,000 Alaskans were born in the state; factoring out the
100,000 Natives, nearly all born here, that leaves 154,600 non-Natives).
Statehood had as its principal objective greater control for residents
over their circumstances and destiny, freedom from well-meaning but
ignorant bureaucrats and legislators in Washington, D.C., who had little
appreciation of Alaska's uniqueness. Greater control, statehood
advocates averred, would help create a new society and, above all,
facilitate more economic development.
But before that could happen, state leaders had to overcome some very
significant challenges. Customarily, when Congress created new states,
the enabling legislation included a grant of state title to a portion of
the land within the new state boundaries. Congress retained title to
some of the land in new states, especially in the West, but usually
titled to the state most lands that might support economic growth. Most
statehood advocates expected the same for Alaska. But they were
surprised when the transfer of title from federal to state government
became, first, a complicating and, subsequently, a compelling issue.
Alaska's Native people have a much more legitimate claim on Alaska than
its immigrant residents. This is true more than just culturally. It's a
claim that links them intimately with Alaska statehood and its legacy.
Before statehood passed the U.S. Congress in the summer of 1958, very
little of Alaska's land had been designated for specific uses -- only
about 54 million of the state's 375 million acres. All of the rest was
potentially subject to Native ownership through the legal doctrine of
aboriginal title. Aboriginal title is title to any land Natives ever
utilized or occupied, whether they continue to utilize and occupy it or
not, unless Congress has formally extinguished that title. The U.S.
Supreme Court had found for the validity of such title in a 1941 case in
Arizona. In the Lower 48, Congress had extinguished nearly all
aboriginal title, holding some land in trust for Natives as Indian
reservations. But there had been no extinguishment in Alaska, and in
Section 4 of the Alaska Statehood Act, Alaskans disclaim forever any
right or title to land that may be subject to Native right or title. In
1958, more than 320 million acres might have been subject to Native
title.
Another section of the Statehood Act, Section 6, stood in stark
contradiction to the Native lands disclaimer. Section 6 gives to Alaska
the right to select for state title about 104 million acres of the
vacant, unreserved land in the new state. And as soon as the ink on the
act was dry, the state set about selecting the lands it wanted. But
Natives quickly began to protest many of the state's selections, saying
they were subject to Native title because Natives had hunted, fished and
lived on them since time immemorial. By the mid-1960s, the state was
blanketed with Native title protests and land claims based on
traditional use and occupancy. The federal government had granted
provisional state title already to 12 million acres when, in 1966,
Interior Secretary Stewart Udall acted to halt any further granting of
title to the state until Native land claims should be settled. There
could be no new economic development in Alaska until those claims were
resolved. All of this transpired before the discovery of Prudhoe Bay oil
in 1967-68.
The claims were resolved in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in
1971, perhaps speeded by the oil discovery. That act titled 44 million
acres to Alaska Natives, but extinguished Native title to Alaska's
remaining acres, eventually freeing the state to finish selecting its
lands.
The completion of statehood, then, rested on the settlement of Native
claims and Natives' surrender of title to most of Alaska's land, a
Native contribution to statehood too little known and recognized today.
The 50th anniversary of Alaska statehood this year presents an important
opportunity to nurture community and a sense of place for Alaska
residents by providing information on how Alaska came to be what it is
from what it was. This is especially true for the 72 percent of
non-Native Alaskans not born in the state, one consequence of which is
that many have little knowledge of its history. (Only 38 percent of the
present 670,000 Alaskans were born in the state; factoring out the
100,000 Natives, nearly all born here, that leaves 154,600 non-Natives).
Statehood had as its principal objective greater control for residents
over their circumstances and destiny, freedom from well-meaning but
ignorant bureaucrats and legislators in Washington, D.C., who had little
appreciation of Alaska's uniqueness. Greater control, statehood
advocates averred, would help create a new society and, above all,
facilitate more economic development.
But before that could happen, state leaders had to overcome some very
significant challenges. Customarily, when Congress created new states,
the enabling legislation included a grant of state title to a portion of
the land within the new state boundaries. Congress retained title to
some of the land in new states, especially in the West, but usually
titled to the state most lands that might support economic growth. Most
statehood advocates expected the same for Alaska. But they were
surprised when the transfer of title from federal to state government
became, first, a complicating and, subsequently, a compelling issue.
Alaska's Native people have a much more legitimate claim on Alaska than
its immigrant residents. This is true more than just culturally. It's a
claim that links them intimately with Alaska statehood and its legacy.
Before statehood passed the U.S. Congress in the summer of 1958, very
little of Alaska's land had been designated for specific uses -- only
about 54 million of the state's 375 million acres. All of the rest was
potentially subject to Native ownership through the legal doctrine of
aboriginal title. Aboriginal title is title to any land Natives ever
utilized or occupied, whether they continue to utilize and occupy it or
not, unless Congress has formally extinguished that title. The U.S.
Supreme Court had found for the validity of such title in a 1941 case in
Arizona. In the Lower 48, Congress had extinguished nearly all
aboriginal title, holding some land in trust for Natives as Indian
reservations. But there had been no extinguishment in Alaska, and in
Section 4 of the Alaska Statehood Act, Alaskans disclaim forever any
right or title to land that may be subject to Native right or title. In
1958, more than 320 million acres might have been subject to Native
title.
Another section of the Statehood Act, Section 6, stood in stark
contradiction to the Native lands disclaimer. Section 6 gives to Alaska
the right to select for state title about 104 million acres of the
vacant, unreserved land in the new state. And as soon as the ink on the
act was dry, the state set about selecting the lands it wanted. But
Natives quickly began to protest many of the state's selections, saying
they were subject to Native title because Natives had hunted, fished and
lived on them since time immemorial. By the mid-1960s, the state was
blanketed with Native title protests and land claims based on
traditional use and occupancy. The federal government had granted
provisional state title already to 12 million acres when, in 1966,
Interior Secretary Stewart Udall acted to halt any further granting of
title to the state until Native land claims should be settled. There
could be no new economic development in Alaska until those claims were
resolved. All of this transpired before the discovery of Prudhoe Bay oil
in 1967-68.
The claims were resolved in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in
1971, perhaps speeded by the oil discovery. That act titled 44 million
acres to Alaska Natives, but extinguished Native title to Alaska's
remaining acres, eventually freeing the state to finish selecting its
lands.
The completion of statehood, then, rested on the settlement of Native
claims and Natives' surrender of title to most of Alaska's land, a
Native contribution to statehood too little known and recognized today.