Alaska Natives And The Power Of Perseverance: The Fight For Sovereignty And Land Claims In Southeast Alaska, 1912-1947
In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. Americans viewed Alaska as a source of natural resources, at first engaging in the dwindling fur trade and then expanding to mining and the commercial salmon fishery by the turn of the century. For Alaska's Indigenous people, these tumult...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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University of Nevada, Las Vegas
2015
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.34917/7777294 https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/2466 |
| Summary: | In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia. Americans viewed Alaska as a source of natural resources, at first engaging in the dwindling fur trade and then expanding to mining and the commercial salmon fishery by the turn of the century. For Alaska's Indigenous people, these tumultuous times resulted in the loss of Indigenous land and resources. Although Natives attempted to solve land disputes through diplomacy, Americans rarely listened and often ignored aboriginal land title. In 1912, young Alaska Native leaders formed the Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB), an organization committed to helping Alaska Natives adjust to the changes brought by the Americans and fighting for social justice. By 1929, fed up with loss of land and the intrusion on ancestral lands, the ANB launched a land claims fight that culminated with the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska v. United States. Although faced with considerable opposition along the way, Alaska Native leaders persistently fought for their ancestral rights and title to their land. This thesis examines how and why the ANB launched the effort to reclaim land in Southeast Alaska. |
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