New SHI book argues Alaska Natives lost hundreds of millions after CARES Act win

A new book from Sealaska Heritage Institute argues that Alaska Native corporations won at the U.S. Supreme Court and still lost hundreds of millions of dollars. That is the central claim of "The Chehalis Case: Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation: Policy Implications for ANCSA Corporations and Alaska Native Tribes," published Thursday by SHI.

The book documents how a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in favor of Alaska Native corporations did not protect them from a legislative reversal about one year later.

The Court ruled in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation that Alaska Native corporations are defined as Indian tribes under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, making them eligible for CARES Act funds. Alaska Native corporations ultimately received approximately $450 million from the $8 billion set aside for tribal governments under that law.

Then Congress moved the other way. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 included $20 billion for direct distribution to tribal governments. Congress and the administration of President Joe Biden explicitly limited ARPA to prevent a repeat of the earlier allocation, excluding Alaska Native corporations from that pot. During the CARES Act litigation, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation had argued that including both Alaska Native corporations and federally recognized tribes would amount to double-dipping.

The author, Chris Shaakakóoni McNeil, former president and CEO of Sealaska Corporation and owner of Native Strategy Group, argues that the double-dipping argument produced the opposite of its intended effect. "The opposite result occurred," McNeil writes. "Because of the allocation formula used by the Secretary of the Treasury, it worked to the extreme detriment of Alaska Natives generally."

McNeil writes that excluding the corporations from ARPA benefits cost Alaska Natives several hundred million dollars, while acknowledging that no formal accounting of the impact has been completed.

Beyond Pandemic Relief

The book also extends the argument beyond pandemic relief. Alaska Native corporations remain excluded from funding formulas in the majority of federal Indian tribal programs, McNeil writes, and the full implications of the decision for their subsidiaries and nonprofits are not yet known. The Court found that organizations created by ANCSA corporations, including nonprofits such as SHI, qualify for federal Indian programs under ISDA. "The Sealaska Heritage Institute was established by Sealaska Corporation and is thereby a tribal organization under ISDA," McNeil writes.

Several tribes are working to reverse the Supreme Court decision's effect on funding formulas, according to the book, and McNeil calls on Alaska Native leadership to seek innovative solutions. "In my view it's a question of imagination, the development of a strategic plan, allocation of necessary resources, and having the same fortitude that prior generations of Alaska Native leaders dedicated to protect our lands," he concludes.