Tanana Chiefs

In the summer of 1915, the Athabascan Chiefs from the lower Tanana River met with Judge James Wickersham, Alaska’s delegate to Congress, at a historic meeting of leaders in Fairbanks. This meeting marked the start of a formal relationship with Athabascan Tribes and the United States government. During the meeting, the Chiefs clearly expressed their priorities to sustain our villages through employment, education, health care, and land protection. The land protection discussion was specifically related to managing access to lands and traditional subsistence hunting and fishing.

Chief Alexander of Tolovana, Chief William of Tanana, Chief Thomas of Nenana, Paul Williams of Tanana, Chief Evan of Coschaket, Chief Charlie of Minto, Chief Alexander William of Tanana, Johnnie Folger of Tanana, Jacob Starr of Tanana, Julius Pilot of Nenana, Titus Alexander of Manley Hot Springs, Chief John of Chena Village, Chief Joe of Salchaket, and Albert of Tanana were the delegates representing the Athabascan people.

Interior Leadership

In the effort to protect our land, Al Ketzler, Sr. of Nenana helped to organize a meeting in 1962. The meeting took place in Tanana and 32 villages across the region were represented. This coalition of Alaska Native leaders would eventually become known as the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC). Flying to Washington, D.C., Ketzler, Sr. presented a petition signed by 24 Interior villages. This led Morris Udall, Secretary of the Interior, to freeze further land selections by the State of Alaska beginning in 1966.

The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) was also formed in 1966. The TCC representatives and over 400 Alaska Native people from 17 Native organizations gathered in Anchorageg for a three-day conference to address aboriginal land rights. AFN became a unified voice for all Alaska Natives in the fight for land claims.

In 1968, United States Senator Ernest Gruening held hearings in the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee on land claims. There, traditional leaders, including Chief Peter John of Minto and Chief Andrew Isaac of Ketchumstuk, provided powerful testimony. Tanacross had filed their first land claim in 1963, and Chief Andrew Isaac testified, “We made our claim in 1963 because the state came in and selected our land – everything, even our village and graveyard.”

ANCSA: The Largest Land Claims

The discovery of commercial quantities of oil on the North Slope elevated the land claims debate in the late 1960s, as the prospect of oil exploration and development was put on hold due to land freezes throughout the state. The pressure from the state, oil industry, and Alaska Native representatives on Congress to reach a land claims settlement was at an all-time high.

After years of debate, compromise, and frequent travels to and from D.C. by Alaska Native leaders, President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) into law on December 18, 1971. This extinguished aboriginal land title in Alaska and awarded 44 million acres of land and $962.5 million to more than 200 villages and 12 regional corporations.

ANCSA was a system that redefined federal Indian policy in Alaska and mandated that both regional and village corporations be owned by Alaska Native shareholders ─ placing corporate ownership into the hands of Alaska Natives.

Doyon’s Early Days

Through ANCSA, 12.5 million acres of land and $54.4 million were allocated to Doyon, Limited.

John Sackett, President and Chairman of the Board, called the first meeting of the Doyon, Limited Board of Directors to order on June 26, 1972. Present were Ronnie Sam, Melvin Charlie, Lucy Carlo, John Sackett, Tim Wallis, Ernest Holmberg, Jimmy Huntington, Jonathon Solomon, and Pat Frank.

Holding the largest amount of land out of all of the Alaska Native Regional Corporations, Doyon, Limited’s boundaries incorporate features that are unique to the region. Doyon leadership took on the monumental task of analyzing what lands would be for future resource development, and what lands would be protected as sacred and historic sites. They also mapped out subsistence areas for land selections. Their careful decisions laid the foundation for Doyon’s success today.