ANCSA Land Transfer Program

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) requires conveyance of approximately 46 million acres to corporations formed by Alaska's Aleuts, Eskimos, and Indians.  Lands are conveyed to regional, village, group, and four city corporations, and individuals who applied for Native primary places of residence. 

Shown right, front page of Tundra Times announcing the signing of ANCSA.

Land Entitlements Under ANCSA

ANCSA provides a number of land entitlements:

• 12(a), granted to villages; based on Native population as of the 1970 census [surface estate]
• 12(a)(1), granted to regions [in-lieu subsurface for areas where regions cannot receive subsurface]
• 12(b), allocated to regions based on enrollment, and further reallocated to villages by the region [surface estate]
• 12(c), granted to regions based on a mathematical formula; 6 regions have 12(c) [surface and subsurface estate]
• 14(f), granted to regions [subsurface in village lands]
• 14(h)(1), granted to regions [surface and subsurface except in old refuges]
• 14(h)(2), granted to eligible groups (less than 25 persons) [surface estate]
• 14(h)(3), granted to the four cities: Juneau, Kenai, Kodiak, and Sitka [surface estate]
• 14(h)(5), granted to individuals for Native primary places of residence [surface estate]
• 14(h)(6), granted to regions [minerals reserved in certificates of allotment if the allotment was approved between 12/18/1971 and 12/18/1975]
• 14(h)(8), granted to regions [surface and subsurface]
• 16(d), granted to villages in southeast [surface estate]
• 19, granted to those villages in former reserves if they chose [surface and subsurface]

Map of Alaska showing all the different ANCSA regions.