SHI book: ANCSA exclusion from ARPA cost Alaska Natives hundreds of millions

Alaska Natives lost several hundred million dollars in federal pandemic relief because ANCSA corporations were excluded from American Rescue Plan Act funding formulas, according to a new book published by Sealaska Heritage Institute. The estimate is one author's analysis, not an independently verified accounting.

The book's author, attorney Chris Shaakakóoni McNeil, is Tlingit, a member of the Nisga'a Nation, and served at Sealaska Corporation from 1978 through 2014, including 13 years as president and CEO. The dispute traces to the CARES Act of 2020, which directed $8 billion to "Indian tribes" and triggered a legal fight over who qualified. ARPA of 2021 then included $31 billion for Indian Country and another $20 billion for direct distribution to tribes. The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation successfully lobbied to exclude ANCSA corporations from ARPA, arguing that including both federally recognized Alaska Native tribes and ANCSA corporations would constitute double-dipping and divert resources intended for tribal governments. McNeil contends the opposite happened.

"Among other arguments, the Chehalis Tribes argued that the inclusion of ANCSA corporations would constitute double-dipping by including both Alaska Native federally recognized tribes and ANCSA corporations," McNeil writes. "The opposite result occurred. Because of the allocation formula used by the Secretary of the Treasury, it worked to the extreme detriment of Alaska Natives generally."

McNeil acknowledges no formal accounting of the court decision's impact exists. His estimate of several hundred million dollars in lost relief is his own, drawn from analysis of the Treasury allocation formula. He warns the exclusion will continue to harm Alaska Natives and notes that several tribes are working to reverse the Supreme Court's decision.

"In some greater sense it's up to this generation of Alaska Native leadership to seek innovative solutions," McNeil concludes. "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."

The book extends McNeil's public work on the subject, which includes SHI-sponsored lectures in 2021 and 2023 examining CARES Act funding disputes and Alaska Native tribal status. It is part of SHI's Box of Knowledge series and is available for purchase online or at the Sealaska Heritage Institute store.