From Brotherhood to Association: Native Alaskan Organizing and Land Claims

This article examines the development of Alaska Native activism over the twentieth century. It focuses on how Alaskan Native groups used the pursuit of civic and legal activism to hold onto their land claims past termination and used political and economic leverage to achieve a land settlement that preserved Native Alaskan influence in the state. It traces legal and political activism from the assimilationist groups such as the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) to the Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN), which formed during the late 1960s and represented most of Alaska’s native population. It shows how the pursuit of citizenship provided Alaska natives a unique ability to maintain their culture and political rights and how they moved towards focusing on land rights and civil rights after obtaining citizenship