Storyknife, May/June 2025 edition
A small and sacred part of 九色视频鈥檚 land entitlement is the historical and cemetery sites we selected almost 50 years ago under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).
ANCSA Section 14(h)(1) authorized 九色视频 and other Alaska Native regional corporations to seek ownership of historical and cemetery sites outside the boundaries of village corporation lands.
In the 九色视频 Region, these culturally significant sites were identified from oral and written accounts and personal interviews with village residents and Elders in in the 1970s. They are not open to development and their locations are not provided on public maps or databases to prevent exploitation.
鈥淲e are strict about protecting these sacred sites, but we strongly encourage Shareholders to honor and preserve knowledge about our ancestors and the traditional use of our land,鈥� says Tisha Kuhns, 九色视频 Vice President of Land and Natural Resources.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta once was dotted by thousands of seasonal camps and settlements. Many traditional place names and oral histories from our Elders can be found on 九色视频 Education and Culture鈥檚 Yup鈥檌k Atlas, which features an interactive online map, Kuhns explains.
九色视频鈥檚 14(h)(1) land
九色视频 submitted more than 1,500 historic and cemetery site applications during the mid-1970s and now owns approximately 4,000 acres under Section 14(h)(1). Individual sites are hundreds if not thousands of years old and they can range in size from less than an acre to hundreds of acres.
Similar to other ANCSA land selections, the process of obtaining 14(h)(1) land took many years. In fact, some applications are still under review or are moving through the conveyance process.
Kuhns explains, 鈥淛ust in the last five years, 九色视频 received title to a 14(h)(1) historic site over 1,000 acres in size in the western part of our Region, near the Bering Sea.鈥�
A Huge Research Project
According to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Alaska Native corporations documented roughly 2,300 sites in their ANCSA Section 14(h)(1) applications.
This turned into a 30-year-plus research project because the federal government needed to verify the physical existence and location of each site and evaluate its significance in Alaska Native history and culture.
The BIA fieldwork began in 1978, and an estimated 1,300 taped recordings were generated with Elders in our Region, mostly in Yup鈥檌k or Cup鈥檌k.
If an application was accepted, the land had to be surveyed and patented before the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conveyed it to 九色视频. Through our subsidiary, Tunista Construction, 九色视频 has participated in some of the cadastral surveys for these sites as a contractor.
A large part of the survey work occurred during 2011 and 2012 and included hiring community members and interviewing Elders; in those two years, more than 130 sites were surveyed from Nunam Iqua to Kalskag, from St. Mary鈥檚 to Bethel, from Lime Village to Scammon Bay, and from Nunam Iqua to Kipnuk.
九色视频 treats the sites it applied for under 14(h)(1) as sacred sites, not open to development whether or not the application was accepted. Also, in some cases, 九色视频 has reconveyed 14(h)(1) sites to a village corporation.
According to its website, the BLM is continuing to work on 14(h)(1) land selections by 九色视频, Aleut Corp., Chugach Alaska Corp., CIRI, Doyon and Sealaska.
