NANA Regional Corporation

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NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. (NANA) is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of Alaska Native land claims. NANA was incorporated in Alaska on June 7, 1972. [1] NANA is a for-profit corporation with a land base in the Kotzebue area in northwest Alaska. Its corporate office is in Kotzebue, Alaska. NANA's Alaska Native shareholders are of Inupiat descent.

Contents

The Northwest Arctic Native Association was NANA's predecessor, and played a key role in the effort to resolve Alaska Native land claims that led to passage of ANCSA. However, NANA is not an acronym today.

According to the 2021 Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI), NANA Regional Corporation is ranked no. 20 among 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle. [2]

Controversies

In 2015, NANA spilled 61 barrels of oil (2,561 gallons) onto the wet tundra of Alaska, where it flowed 200 yards into a nearby stream. The EPA fined NANA $24,500 for this act of pollution and they were forced to pay approximately $2,000,000 in compliance costs. [3]

NANA Regional Corporation is headquartered in Kotzebue but maintains offices in downtown Anchorage for a number of departments and subsidiaries, including the headquarters of NANA Development Corporation. The building, situated at the corner of Ninth Avenue and I Street and constructed in 1969, formerly housed oil company offices and the Japanese consulate office. Nana Headquarters "I" Street, downtown Anchorage, Alaska.jpg
NANA Regional Corporation is headquartered in Kotzebue but maintains offices in downtown Anchorage for a number of departments and subsidiaries, including the headquarters of NANA Development Corporation. The building, situated at the corner of Ninth Avenue and I Street and constructed in 1969, formerly housed oil company offices and the Japanese consulate office.

Corporate governance

Board of directors

NANA is a shareholder-managed corporation that is guided by a board of directors, composed of Inupiat shareholders, and a senior management team. The 23 member NANA Regional Corporation, Inc. Board is elected solely by NANA shareholders. It is made up of two Iñupiat shareholder board members from each NANA village (with the exception of Kotzebue with one board seat) and an Elder Advisor.[ citation needed ]

Shareholders

Most of NANA's approximately 15,000 shareholders are Alaska Natives of Inupiat descent. As an ANCSA corporation, NANA has no publicly traded stock and its shares cannot legally be sold, though Class A, B and C stocks can be inherited or gifted. Unlike other American corporations, NANA - as an Alaska Native Corporation, has economic, social and cultural responsibilities to its shareholders.[ citation needed ]

Lands

Map showing NANA's region, with an inset showing the region in relation to Alaska as a whole. Adjacent regions are those of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (to the north), Bering Straits Native Corporation (to the south) and Doyon, Limited (to the east). NANA Region.jpg
Map showing NANA's region, with an inset showing the region in relation to Alaska as a whole. Adjacent regions are those of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (to the north), Bering Straits Native Corporation (to the south) and Doyon, Limited (to the east).

Until 1971, the issue of land ownership in Alaska was divisive. Oil was discovered on Alaska's North Slope and Alaska Native peoples, including the Iñupiat of northwest Alaska, worried about maintaining rights to traditional lands and the ability to protect their valuable subsistence resources. The passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (or ANCSA) helped resolve many of the issues surrounding land rights.

ANCSA created 12 regional corporations in Alaska (a 13th was added later), and the state and Alaska Native groups worked together to select lands for each region. Each of these regions formed a for-profit corporation to manage these land rights.

Today, NANA owns 2,280,000 acres (9,200 km2), or approximately 9.4 percent of the 24,300,000 acres (98,000 km2) that comprise the NANA region. NANA lands encompass an area that is roughly the size of Indiana.

In 1972, a merger of the area’s regional corporation and ten of the eleven village corporations resulted in NANA’s ownership of both the surface and subsurface acreage, with the exception of the surface acreage Kikiktagruk Iñupiat Corporation (KIC) retained.

The land selection and conveyance process is now largely completed, but the work of our Lands Department continues to ensure that our rights are never again in question.

NANA-owned lands are managed by the NANA Lands and Regional Affairs Department.

Subsidiaries

NANA subsidiaries include:

Related Research Articles

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing issues surrounding aboriginal land claims in Alaska, as well as to stimulate economic development throughout Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kotzebue, Alaska</span> City in Alaska, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Krusenstern National Monument</span> U.S. National Monument and National Historic Landmark

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The Alaska Native Regional Corporations were established in 1971 when the United States Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) which settled land and financial claims made by the Alaska Natives and provided for the establishment of 13 regional corporations to administer those claims.

Ahtna, Incorporated is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Ahtna, Incorporated was incorporated in Alaska on June 23, 1972. Headquartered in Glennallen, Alaska, Ahtna is a for-profit corporation with more than 2,000 Alaska Native shareholders primarily of Ahtna Athabascan descent.

Calista Corporation is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Calista was incorporated in Alaska on June 12, 1972. Although the Calista region is in western Alaska, Calista Corporation is headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. Calista is a for-profit corporation with 34,500 Alaska Native shareholders primarily of Yup'ik descent.

The 13th Regional Corporation is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of Indigenous land claims. It was incorporated in Alaska on December 31, 1975. The 13th Regional Corporation is a for-profit corporation presently headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with approximately 5,500 Alaska Native shareholders of Eskimo, American Indian, and Aleut descent. Its original enrollment was of Alaska Natives who were no longer resident in Alaska.

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The Aleut Corporation, or TAC, is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. The Aleut Corporation was incorporated in Alaska on June 21, 1972. Headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, The Aleut Corporation is a for-profit corporation with approximately 3,410 Alaska Native shareholders, primarily of Aleut descent originating in the Alaska Peninsula, Aleutian Islands, Pribilof Islands, and Shumagin Islands of Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic Slope Regional Corporation</span>

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Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) was formed in 1972 as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation for the Bering Straits and Norton Sound region. The corporation actively pursues responsible development of resources and other business opportunities. Through its subsidiaries, BSNC serves the federal government and commercial customers.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NANA Development Corporation</span>

NANA Development Corporation headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, was owned by NANA Regional Corporation—an Alaska Native Corporation formed under provisions of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA)—and functioned as the latter's business arm.

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William L. "Willie" Hensley, also known by his Iñupiaq name Iġġiaġruk, is a semi-retired Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Alaska known for his work regarding Native Alaskan land rights. Hensley played a critical role in the creation of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971, one of the largest and most important land claims by indigenous peoples in U.S. history. Hensley went on to serve a term in the Alaska House of Representatives (1967–1970), and then a four-year term in the Alaska Senate (1971–1974). Hensley also served another year in the Alaska Senate from 1987 to 1988, when he was nominated by 6th Governor of Alaska Steve Cowper.

The Barrow Duck-In was a civil disobedience event that occurred in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, in the spring of 1961. During the Duck-in, the Iñupiat protested a federal hunting ban on ducks, which threatened their livelihood and rights to food security. The Alaskan North Slope is a remote and rural area, and many residents rely on seasonal bird hunts for sustenance. A series of attempts to regulate Iñupiat subsistence by federal and international entities led to the Duck-in, in which over one-hundred Iñupiaq residents of Utqiaġvik protested waterfowl regulations in the area. The Duck-in is considered a seminal protest, as it had significant influence over future subsistence regulation and Native claims laws in Alaska, such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

References

  1. ↑ Corporations Database (NANA Regional Corporation, Inc.). Division of Corporations, Business & Professional Licensing, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
  2. ↑ Overland, I., Bourmistrov, A., Dale, B., Irlbacher‐Fox, S., Juraev, J., Podgaiskii, E., Stammler, F., Tsani, S., Vakulchuk, R. and Wilson, E.C. 2021. The Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index: A method to rank heterogenous extractive industry companies for governance purposes. Business Strategy and the Environment. 30, 1623–1643. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bse.2698
  3. ↑ "Civil Enforcement Case Report | ECHO | US EPA". echo.epa.gov. Retrieved 2022-10-02.
  4. ↑ Dvorak, Petula (2017-11-06). "Perspective | She flipped off President Trump — and got fired from her government contracting job". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2017-11-06.
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