An Introduction
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act is one of the most significant land transactions in history. It is also an extremely complex act, so much so that lawyers many years afterwards are still arguing about interpretations of some aspects of it.
This mini-text attempts to explain the main parts of the act briefly and succinctly. Basic to an understanding of the Act is an understanding of the workings of a corporation. This involves learning a staggering amount of economic terminology. Fortunately, most of the new terms will be reinforced in the succeeding chapters. Several games have also been prepared to help with the word study.
Because of the fact that Texts Five, Six, Seven, and Eight all deal directly with the Act itself, the activities for the four may be regarded as a block. Teachers are encouraged to scan them all in order to select the strategies that will best help their students understand the Act and how it works.
CONCEPTS TO BE TAUGHT:
WORDS TO LEARN OR REVIEW:
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emigration |
municipal
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DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOMES:
Students will become acquainted with the workings of a corporation.
STRATEGIES:
Conduct interviews with local corporation leaders, stockholders, and corporation employees. Prepare interview questions ahead of time and role play them with the class. After the interviews, report to the class what you found out.
Attend a stockholders' meeting.
Invite local corporation leaders to speak to the class. Bankers or attorneys involved with the land claims settlement would be good speakers also.
Create model corporations within the class or school. Elect officers, hold meetings, conduct corporation business. How does this differ from the way Native groups traditionally conducted business?
DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOME:
Students will simulate land selection process for their village.
STRATEGIES:
If maps of your region are available, have students work in small groups to simulate land selection for their own village, based on what they know of land use. Have small groups share their conclusions about what should be selected. Compare with what actually has been selected. What are the differences? How do you account for them? Using symbols make a land use map of the immediate area.
DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOME:
Students will learn how large an acre is.
STRATEGIES:
To get a realistic idea of how large an acre is, measure out an area 208 feet square. Have a member of the class stand at each corner. Practice "stepping it off" to get a feel for its size. Try throwing a baseball across it. How many acres does the school ground cover? How many acres does the village cover?
On a map of the village, plot an acre. Plot a section, and a township.
LEARNING CENTER IDEA
A good reader might record this book and others on tape for the rest of the class to listen to. Sometimes it is a help to some students to hear material being read as they follow the words.
DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOME:
Students will simulate the decision-making process of a village council.
STRATEGIES:
Pretend that your class is the village population. You must decide if you will allow an oil company to explore for oil in your territory.
Elect members to the village council. Elect one council member for every 4 students.
The remaining citizens should divide into two groups. One group is in favor of letting the oil companies explore for oil. The other is opposed.
Meet in groups and prepare an argument for your side. Present your reasons to the council. Try to convince them to vote for what your group wants.
The council must decide what would be the best for the village. After discussion, the council votes.
IS THE ACT AN "IMAGINATIVE SOLUTION"?
DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOME:
Through analysis of a quotation, students will form a tentative opinion on the overall effectiveness of the Native Claims Settlement Act.
STRATEGIES:
Study this statement:
JUSTICE TO THE NATIVE PEOPLE AND THE WISE ALLOCATION AND DISPOSITION OF THE LANDS AND RESOURCES OF ALASKA BOTH REQUIRE A SURER, MORE COMIPLEX AND IMGINATIVE RESOLUTION THAN SIMPLY CONFIRMING TITLE TO SPECIFIC TRACTS AND AWARDING CASH COMPENSATION.
-- US Senate committee on Interior and Insular Affairs - June 11, 1970
What is meant by the above statement?
Do you agree with it?
Is the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act a "surer, more complex and imaginative resolution," or does it merely "confirm title to specific tracts'! and "award cash compensation"?
Come back to the quotation after you have studied additional books, and see if you still agree with your original opinion.
TWO HISTORY ACTIVITIES
DESIRED STUDENT OUTCOME:
Students will learn that there is value in their own history.
STRATEGIES:
What do you know about the history of your people? A good way to find out would be to have a History Fair.
Plan to have the fair 2 weeks from now. Everyone should look for an object at least ~0 years old. You can bring in tools, clothes, photographs, books, or other items. Write down on a piece of paper what each item is, when it was used, and what it was used for.
When everybody is ready, display items on tables. See if anyone can guess what each item is, when it was used, and what it was used for.
You may also want to invite your parents or an older relative or friend to demonstrate how to make something, or prepare a food used in the past, or to sing or dance, or tell a story.
1975 and 1976 are years when Americans are celebrating their Declaration of Independence from England and the beginning of the Revolution that won that independence.
What was happening in the lives of Alaska Natives 200 years ago?
If you were selecting one incident from the history of Alaska Natives to celebrate, what event would you choose? Write an editorial explaining why. Write a letter to the Governor of Alaska suggesting that the date be declared a state holiday.
Some people think because all the world's people must live together on one small planet, we should write a DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Write such a declaration for the people of Alaska, explaining what each group should do in order to get along with other groups.