Ch'etbuja: native shareholders receive benefits under their corporations' umbrella.

• Author: Grenn, Ben

The Origins

Native corporations were created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), passed by Congress in December 1971, which settled the aboriginal land claims of Alaska Native people and provided conveyance of land and seed capital to Native for-profit corporations representing various regions of the state.

Some 79,000 Alaska Natives were originally enrolled under the act. Each enrolled Native received 100 shares of stock in the regional corporation to which he or she was enrolled. Additionally, some village corporations also distributed shares of their stock.

There is a Dena'ina Athabascan word, "Ch'etbuja," which roughly translated into English means "we share it." It refers to the sharing of fish and other food resources among residents of a certain tribe.

"Ch'etbuja" (pronounced, chealth-BOU-jah) is a phrase that may also best describe the 12 Alaska Native regional corporations and 29 village corporations reported on by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Regional Corporation Presidents/CEOs, in its annual report. (There are actually close to 200 village corporations.) The 13th Regional Corp. is based in Seattle. These entities work hard to reward their shareholders with dividends to make sound investments.

The phrase is also used to focus on the fact that Native corporations share the resource revenue from their ANCSA lands.

DIVIDEND AS A BAROMETER

The dividend payment is an important yardstick when measuring success of any Native corporation. The 42 corporations paid $117.5 million in dividends in 2004. This compared to the $52.1 million paid out three years prior.

"The dividend is based on the strong financial performance of 2006. We are extremely pleased to be able to pass along a portion of those earnings to our shareholders," said recently elected Arctic Slope Regional Corp. President and CEO Bobbi Quintavell.

"ASRC's board and management are committed to providing shareholders financial benefits through dividends, reinvestment for the future, Elders' Trust payments and employment and educational opportunities."

In March, ASRC board of directors declared a spring dividend of $16.34 per share that was to be issued last month. The average shareholder owns 100 shares of ASRC stock and will receive $1,634. The corporation paid a fall dividend in 2006 of $37.76 per share. ASRC is headquartered in Barrow and has 9,000 shareholders. It has subsidiary offices in Anchorage and throughout the world.

"We pay...