The Future of the Village Corporation

Abstract

There is an undercurrent of opinion in Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) administration that the village corporation structure established under the Act is an anachronism, unsuitable to the needs of modern corporate enterprise and accordingly Alaska Native purposes. This line of criticism suggests that the regional corporate structure, also established under the Settlement Act, is sufficient to the needs of the Alaska Native people. Organizational issues in the Settlement Act are both politically and emotionally sensitive. As a result, discussion of this point of view has been muted. It is nonetheless important. The purpose of this paper is to search out the purposes of village corporation existence as a foundation to change or for a better understanding of the roles that are played by them. The Act serves as a written constitution for the Alaska Native people. It must be interpreted broadly to accomplish these fundamental purposes of the people and not as an instrument of a particular economic theory – which is, at least in part, alien to its heritage.