SCOTUS ruling favoring Alaska Native Corporations

A new U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says Alaska Native Corporations have the right to collect a substantial portion of the funding included in the CARES Act of 2020 has caused angst among some Natives who say the decision calls into question what it means to be a sovereign tribe in America today.

With concerns on that topic already plentiful in part because of the federal government’s control over Indian gaming since the 1980s and the ensuing per capita and disenrollment issues that have since taken place in Indian Country, some policy experts say the situation just got murkier.

The high court’s ruling, handed down June 25, said that for-profit ANCs are considered to be “Indian tribes” under the Indian Self-Determination Act (ISDA), and they therefore should receive CARES Act funding designated for tribal governments. 

The 13 regional ANCs were created in 1971 after Congress passed a land-settlement law focused on aiding Alaska Natives, called the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). 

At that time, Alaska’s federal and state lawmakers were looking for ways to financially help struggling Alaska Natives with ongoing land claims in their state, while also taking Alaska Native lands and energy resources for Alaska state interests. It worked in large part, and all sides have experienced benefits that many tribes in the Lower 48 states have not seen under the traditional federal-recognition system and federal funding process. 

https://tribalbusinessnews.com/sections/economic-development/13542-supreme-court-ruling-favoring-alaska-native-corporations-has-indians-asking-what-it-means-to-be-a-tribe