Southeast Alaska Landless Corporation (SALC) FAQ

+ What is the Southeast Alaska Landless Corporation?

The Southeast Alaska Landless Corporation, or SALC, is an Alaska-based nonprofit coalition formed in 2006 as an umbrella organization for the five landless nonprofits in Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee and Wrangell. These nonprofit organizations include the Landless Natives of Haines Alaska Inc.; Landless Natives of Ketchikan Alaska Inc.; Landless Natives of Petersburg Alaska Inc.; Landless Natives of Tenakee Springs Alaska Inc.; Landless Natives of Wrangell Alaska Inc. The SALC was formed to allow all five communities to join together in voice and unity and is governed by a board of directors made up of two directors from each of the five community-based landless non-profits.The SALC advocates for a legislative solution to correct the 50-year injustice created from the exclusion of their five communities from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

+ How is the SALC governed and who are the leaders?

Two representatives from each community's nonprofit sits on the SALC board, all of whom are volunteer board members. Currently, Cecilia Tavoliero is the president of the SALC and representative for Petersburg. To get to know the full team, head to the Team section on the site!

+ Why is SALC a “corporation”?

SALC is a coalition of volunteers organized (as a legal matter) as an Alaskan nonprofit corporation. SALC is not an Alaska Native corporation; Congress must authorize each landless community to establish its own Native corporation.

+ Will the Southeast Alaska Landless Corporation be the corporation receiving the new land?

No. If a bill is enacted to amend ANCSA to recognize the landless, five new for-profit urban corporations will be created to receive and govern one township of land (23,040 acres) in each of the five communities.

+ What is the difference between Southeast Alaska Landless Corporation and Alaska Natives Without Land?

Alaska Natives Without Land is an advocacy campaign and volunteer coordination effort that works closely with SALC to continue the fight for justice for the five landless communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee Springs and Wrangell. ANWL supports SALC in whatever capacity they need, working to educate the public and gain support for the pending legislation, working with volunteers from each community to spread the word, sign the online petitions, and obtain letters of support to Alaska/Washington congressional delegations from individuals, businesses, and community and Native organizations. ANWL also coordinates media and stakeholder information requests for the SALC.

+ Why does the legislation establish new “corporations”?

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 authorized the creation of Alaska Native regional, urban, village and group corporations to receive title to and manage settlement lands. The ANCSA model is different from the reservation model in the Lower 48 states, or for Metlakatla in Alaska, for which lands are retained in trust by the Federal Government. Although the corporation structure is not unique to Alaska Native corporations (tribal governments can and often do operate their own corporations), an Alaska Native corporation is not a sovereign entity with governmental powers. But Alaska Native corporations are not like conventional, for-profit and/or publically traded corporations, either. Congress has granted Alaska Native corporations special rights, duties, and preferences. For example, though a non-Native individual can inherit stock from a Native spouse or parent, Congress required that only Alaska Natives have the power to vote as stockholders. ANCSA corporate shares can never be bought or sold. Congress has exempted Alaska Native corporations from certain employment restrictions to protect shareholder hiring. Congress has enacted laws protecting undeveloped ANCSA lands from taxation and involuntary alienation. Congress has required federal agencies to consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as federally-recognized tribes. These are actions and many others have been taken to ensure that Alaska Native corporations can serve the long-term interests of Alaska Native communities.

+ What will the corporations do after being established?

After establishment, shareholders (see below) will vote to establish boards of directors for the new urban corporations. The new urban corporations in each landless community will look and function much like any other Alaska Native corporation in the state. We expect that it will take approximately two years for the Bureau of Land Management to convey all of the land to the new urban corporations. The enrollment of eligible Alaska Native will begin almost immediately after the legislation passes Congress and becomes law once signed by the President of the United States.

+ Will Sealaska be involved in the structure of these newly created corporations?

No. Sealaska is a separate Alaska Native regional corporation which, while being an adamant supporter of the landless, will not be included in the governance structure of these new corporations.

+ How many shareholders will each of the new corporations have? How are shareholders identified for each of the urban corporations?

The identification of shareholders and allocation of shares will essentially follow the model established by ANCSA. The Secretary of the Interior will enroll to each of the urban corporations those individual Alaska Natives who enrolled under ANCSA to the Native villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, or Wrangell, respectively. Each individual who enrolled to one of the five landless communities pursuant to ANCSA was also enrolled as a shareholder of Sealaska; each of those individuals received 100 shares of Settlement Common Stock in Sealaska and each of those individuals will similarly receive 100 shares of Settlement Common Stock in their respective urban corporation. An Alaska Native individual who has received shares of Sealaska stock from a landless shareholder through inheritance will receive the identical number of shares of Settlement Common Stock in the urban corporation to which the deceased individual would have been eligible to be enrolled.

+ How many landless prospective shareholders are there?

There are a total of 4,749 landless shareholders throughout each of the five communities.

+ How do I check if I am a landless shareholder?

Get in touch with the Communications department at Sealaska to learn more about your shareholder eligibility. Contact sccom@sealaska.com or 1.800.848.5921.

+I am not a shareholder of any Native corporations but am Alaska Native — can I enroll in one of the new corporations?

No. Legislation was enacted decades ago to re-open enrollment for Alaska Native individuals who did not enroll to their village after ANCSA passed. This legislation does not reopen the enrollment process.

+ I heard that the landless receive more dividends than village and urban shareholders from Sealaska. If this is the case and the landless receive new land, won't this constitute unequal benefit from ANCSA?

This is a common misconception. The Landless shareholders have not received (and would not receive, if this legislation passes) anything more than any other Alaska Native individual who enrolled to a community that incorporated as an Alaska Native urban corporation. Under Section 7(i) of ANCSA, Alaska Native regional corporations must share 70 percent of their net revenue from natural resource development. Section 7(j) of ANCSA requires that this Section 7(i) income must then be divided equally between the regional corporation and its village corporations as well as the original shareholders of the region who were not shareholders of a village corporation. Sealaska shareholders who are “at large” shareholders (including individuals who enrolled from outside Alaska) as well as Sealaska shareholders who are “urban” shareholders (including both the Landless shareholders and shareholders of the existing urban corporations) all currently receive a pro rata share of the 7(j) payments, as required by ANCSA. A shareholder in a village corporation may or may not receive such benefits; that is up to the village corporation. A village corporation may choose to reinvest the funds or distribute the revenue directly to their shareholders.

+ If the landless are urban shareholders of Sealaska, how could they be considered “landless?”

Unlike the more than 200 Alaska Native communities that were given the opportunity in ANCSA to select some of their homelands—to be held by a village corporation or an urban corporation or a group corporation, the landless as independent Native communities did not have the opportunity to select land. Although they are Sealaska shareholders, and Sealaska does own land, the landless shareholders were never given the opportunity to own land at the community level and to develop village or urban corporations for the benefit of their own communities.

+ I am a shareholder of Sealaska and my shares reflect that I am a Haines landless shareholder. When the legislation becomes law, can I enroll in one of the other four communities instead of Haines?

No. Legislation was enacted decades ago to re-open enrollment for Alaska Native individuals who did not enroll to their village after ANCSA passed. This legislation does not reopen the enrollment process.

If you enrolled to Haines, you will receive stock in the urban corporation for Haines.