Uniquely Native: sharing resource revenue among Alaska Native corporations.

• Author: Liles, Patricia
• Position: NATIVE BUSINESS

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Rapidly becoming major players in the state's economy, Alaska Native corporations throughout the state seem to be setting new revenue and profit records and, at the same time, increasing the number of employees and benefit programs for their shareholders.

While many of the corporations are producing substantial financial successes as measured by the standard economic yardstick, a traditional cultural aspect remains a key part of resource development on Native-owned lands in Alaska.

Revenue-sharing among Alaska Native corporations was mandated by the 7(i) provision of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. That provision requires that 70 percent of income derived from resource development on Native-owned lands be shared with other Alaska Native corporations in the state.

The sharing requirements of ANCSA are among the most "Native" aspects of the act, and a primary difference between Alaska Native corporations and other Western business entities, noted the authors of the 2004 report published by the Association of ANCSA Regional Corporation Presidents/CEOs.

"Through these provisions, more than $675 million--an amount equal to well over half of the entire cash settlement of ANCSA--has been distributed to regional corporations, village corporations, and individual shareholders over three decades," the report said.

The largest contributor, so far, to the pool of resource revenue-sharing among Alaska Native corporations, is Juneau-based Sealaska Corp. Cumulatively, Sealaska has contributed more than $300 million to Alaska Native revenue-sharing since the program's inception, according to Todd Antioquia, director of corporate communications.

Timber harvesting, which began producing revenue for Sealaska in 1980, provided the corporation with substantial resource revenue, of which the majority went to other Alaska Native corporations.

"We're sharing 70 percent of the money we're making from our development," Antioquia said. "What other for-profit corporation has to do that? But when you look at the bigger picture, the entire pool of these institutions can be powerful when you look at how that revenue is utilized."

The 7(i) requirement in ANCSA came from concern that one corporation might be much wealthier than another, simply as a result of resources located within its geographic boundaries, according to the Association of ANCSA Presidents.

"Sharing is an integral part of Alaska Native cultures and traditions. Its inclusion in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement...