Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act

That's a fair point, Blair.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 is a perfect illustration.

It was controversial, sure, but it affirmed that the federal government must act as the caretaker of Alaska's vast oil and mineral wealth, not just hand it over to the highest bidder.

By channeling royalties into a trust for Native communities and the state, the act tried to balance development with responsibility.

He served as the first president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, which is the largest Alaska Native advocacy group now in its 60th year.

He was also the key negotiator of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

We'll assess challenges and hurdles Naughty helped navigate through the generations.

We're back after the news.

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Joining us in person at the first Alaskans Institute Elders and Youth Conference is Emil Naughty.

He is the first president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, a key negotiator for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, an engineer and business leader among other titles and accomplishments.

He is Koyukon Athabaskan.

Whereas if it's private land in Alaska, private land owned by Alaska native tribes and native corporations, That's the best land to work on.

Why? Well, because of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, they were allowed to select lands.

And since the federal and state governments have already preselected all the oil and gas lands, and I'm not slagging the oil and gas business.

He's not.

Wow.

Yeah.

That was the purpose of ANCSA, we call it ANCSA, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, was to, you know, Build wealth.

Fundamentally, that's what you're doing is building wealth.

Geologists estimate the deposit contains more than 30 million ounces of gold.

Supporters say the project would bring economic activity and generate revenue distributed to Native corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Opponents cite risks to the Kuskokwim River, wildlife, drinking water, food supplies, and subsistence practices.

The project remains awaiting a development decision, while court proceedings continue over its environmental permits and impact assessments.

It's a precedent, and it connects to something bigger.

The organizing that stopped Chariot fed into native political organization that led to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in '71.

Celia Hunter from the Alaska Conservation Society said it well.

She said they thought they could push everybody around, and they suddenly discovered they were up against an informed citizenry.

nice loving generous man who when the high school students from cordova came to watch him talk you could tell it he was just extremely excited that that these young these young students are coming to to listen to him talk And to David's point, when you assign one of Stephen's books to your class, you know that it's going to be controversial because he's going to say some things that maybe people who grew up in Alaska don't want to hear or don't agree with.

And those were wonderful discussions in the classroom where you have Alaskans born and bred sitting down, and they have disagreements on federal power, state power, ANCSA, And he really tackled those, and he made people think, and he was just a generous, kind person.

Yeah, he was not just an unabashed liberal.

He was an unabashed human being.