This project is a shareholder-led effort to bring modern transparency, fairness, and accountability to our Native corporations—not by tearing them down, but by strengthening the systems that guide them.
This project documents patterns, not accusations - and focuses on systems, not individuals.
New Here?
Read ANCSA Today → Playbook → Proposals; use Share a Pattern if you’ve noticed a recurring theme.
Start with ANCSA Today for context, then the Shareholder Playbook for practical understanding. Everything else is optional.
This site is designed as a reference and education tool.
Shareholders may find it helpful to review relevant sections before engaging with their corporation’s leadership, attending meetings, or submitting questions.
The goal is clarity, not confrontation.
If you’ve ever felt unsure about how your ANCSA corporation works, you’re not alone.
Most Alaska Native shareholders were never given a clear, plain-language explanation of what ANCSA created, what it didn’t, and how corporate decision-making actually functions today.
This isn’t a failure of interest or intelligence. It’s a structural reality of how the system evolved.
ANCSA corporations grew quickly, across vast geographies, under layers of federal law, state corporate law, and internal governance documents.
Over time, the institutions became more complex — but the explanations didn’t always keep pace.
This page exists to offer orientation, not judgment.
ANCSA corporations are unlike most organizations people interact with day-to-day.They are:
That combination is rare. It means that expectations formed from tribal governments, nonprofits, or public agencies don’t always apply cleanly here.
For many shareholders, the first time they try to understand how decisions are made, where information lives, or what role they personally play, it can feel overwhelming. That reaction is normal.
Discussions about governance often get framed in terms of “good” or “bad,” “transparent” or “opaque.” In reality, most corporations exist somewhere along a spectrum shaped by history, scale, resources, and institutional maturity.
Rather than labeling outcomes, this site focuses on structures.
Some corporations rely heavily on:
Others use:
These differences usually reflect evolution, not intent.
Instead of asking whether a corporation is “transparent” or “opaque,” it can be more helpful to ask:
Understanding these mechanics makes it easier to participate without conflict.
You are allowed to:
Learning how the system works is not an accusation. It’s participation.
No one is expected to know everything. Most people weren’t taught this at all.
ModernANCSA is structured so you can engage at your own pace.
You can explore:
There is no required order. Start where you’re comfortable.
One Last Thing
This site doesn’t tell you what to think or what to demand.It exists to make the system legible — so that when you do choose to engage, you’re doing so from a place of understanding rather than frustration.
That’s it.
You can learn more about ANCSA below and take your time, there is a lot of information to digest and there is no required order.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was passed by Congress in 1971 to resolve Aboriginal land claims in Alaska.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) is the landmark 1971 law that created Alaska Native corporations, allocated millions of acres of land, and shaped how shareholder governance works today.
Instead of reservations or treaties, ANCSA created:
In exchange, Alaska Native land claims were legally extinguished.
ANCSA turned land, identity, and future opportunity into a corporate system.
That choice was unprecedented—and still is.
ANCSA corporations are state-chartered, for-profit corporations, not tribal governments.
Key features:
This means:
ANCSA corporations operate under corporate law, not tribal law.
ANCSA corporations are not:
They can support culture, language, and community—but legally, they are corporations.
This distinction matters.
Because ANCSA corporations:
Governance is the safeguard.
Good governance determines:
Weak governance creates:
ANCSA was designed for 1971.
Today, corporations face:
The system evolved.
The education and accountability structures often did not.
Most shareholders were never given a playbook.
Common gaps:
Education is not opposition.
It is system maintenance.
Modernization does not mean:
It means:
Healthy systems invite scrutiny.
They do not fear it.
This project exists to:
No outrage.
No personalities.
No agendas beyond long-term system health.
ANCSA is not broken because people ask questions.
It weakens when:
Transparency is not radical.
It is maintenance as we focus on a path forward.
ANCSA corporations were created over 50 years ago. The world has changed, our communities have changed, and our expectations of transparency have changed. Many of our systems—reporting, labor compliance, board accountability—haven’t kept up. This project exists to collect questions, document patterns, and propose practical, modern system improvements that protect both shareholders and the long-term health of our corporations.
Sign up to receive occasional updates on governance proposals, educational resources, and ways to support modernization across all regions.
