he Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was passed in 1971, establishing 12 regional corporations and more than 200 village corporations throughout the state. And while the act required that regional corporations and village corporations share possession of their traditional lands and the resources harvested from them, a number of these entities have chosen to partner in other ways as well.

In some cases, regional corporations have provided education and training to members of village corporations so that they could gain ground in specific business areas, such as the federal contracting arena. Other times, they have assisted village corporations when their communities were in need or when they required the support or backing of an entity with more resources. Working together, both types of corporations provide scholarships to shareholders and their descendants and job opportunities through shareholder hire programs.

Through ANCSA, village corporations generally own surface rights to the lands they were granted and regional corporations own the subsurface estate, including mineral rights. Because of that, natural resource projects require communication and coordination between the corporations, even beyond ANCSA’s 7(i) and 7(j) natural resource revenue sharing requirements.

“It is inherent in ANCSA that village corporations work alongside regional corporations,” explains Cameron Poindexter, president and CEO of Choggiung, the village corporation for Dillingham. “While we own the surface resources of our land, Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) owns the subsurface resources. We allow access to subsurface resources—currently only gravel and rock underneath our surface holdings—and they contract with us to manage that resource for them. We share royalties from sales.”

Calista Corporation has a similar relationship with village corporations in its region. “Calista contracts with parties that want to purchase sand and gravel, and then pays a share from those sales to the village corporations that own the land surface,” explains Mary Martinez, land planner for Calista. “It is payment for extraction of materials and access to its lands.”

The ties of subsurface and surface land management allow all entities in-region to benefit even when a corporation partners with a non-ANCSA entity.

Calista enters into material sales and pit management contracts with village corporations, tribal entities, and city governments. “Calista has materials sales contracts with the city of St. Mary’s and the city of Mountain Village to manage and operate its gravel pits,” says Martinez. “A royalty is paid for minerals sold locally or exported out of community, and a percentage of that is shared with the surface owner.” In this case, royalties are shared with St. Mary’s Native Corporation and Azachorok Inc., respectively.

Calista enters into material sales and pit management contracts with village corporations, tribal entities, and city governments. “Calista has materials sales contracts with the city of St. Mary’s and the city of Mountain Village to manage and operate its gravel pits,” says Martinez. “A royalty is paid for minerals sold locally or exported out of community, and a percentage of that is shared with the surface owner.” In this case, royalties are shared with St. Mary’s Native Corporation and Azachorok Inc., respectively.

Calista also owns the subsurface estate and some surface lands at the Donlin Gold project, operated by Donlin Gold, which contains one of the largest known undeveloped gold deposits in the world. The Kuskokwim Corporation owns most of the surface lands, and both corporations reached agreements with Donlin Gold to work together to develop the mine in a way that benefits their shareholders and the region.

According to Martinez, the development of these natural resources allows Native corporations opportunities to generate jobs within local communities. “Calista Corporation has dedicated staff who work specifically with shareholder hire, encouraging the contractors to train and employ shareholders and shareholder descendants,” she says.

When BBNC offered village corporations the opportunity to work with it on a new initiative, Choggiung leapt at the chance.

“Several years ago, Bristol Bay Native Corporation launched an in-region government contracting initiative in which they invited villages to learn about federal contracting and the SBA 8(a) business development program,” explains Poindexter. “They provided education to the boards and management of village corporations in their region and launched partnerships with several of the villages that were especially interested in getting into federal contracts.

“Since BBNC launched the initiative in 2015, Choggiung has taken great advantage of what we learned by starting up two new companies which were successfully certified in the SBA 8(a) program,” he continues. “Subsequently, BBNC was looking to further assist village corporations in the region by selling one of its construction brands, and they invited us and other village corporations in Bristol Bay to compete for the opportunity to become a BBNC business partner.”

According to Poindexter, Choggiung had both the management capacity and the financial capacity required to make the purchase, and in 2018 became the sole village investor and business partner in Bristol Industries, the holding company that owns the Bristol Alliance of Companies.

As a result, in the space of less than a year, Choggiung grew from a company with $8.4 million in annual revenue in fiscal year 2017 to a powerhouse earning $95 million in annual revenue in its most recent fiscal year.

“Our village corporation’s relationship with our regional counterpart is very unique among Alaska Native corporations,” says Poindexter, adding that Choggiung is incredibly proud to work alongside BBNC. “They still have an interest in the company, but we own the controlling interest.

“Not many other regional corporations work with village corporations in such a significant way,” he adds, “and we are absolutely 100 percent grateful for our business relationship.”

While finding ways to work together can provide huge economic advantages, both regional and village corporations also understand the importance of combining their efforts to preserve their cultural traditions and lifestyles.

For the past two years, Choggiung has partnered with the BBNC Education Foundation to host a fundraiser to raise money for scholarships for BBNC and Choggiung shareholders.

“The BBNC Education Foundation wanted to do a fundraiser based around our world-class fishery and the land resources we own along the Nushagak River,” says Poindexter. “They organize a fishing derby during the king salmon run, and we provide access to our land and a hub for weigh-ins. BBNC’s Education Foundation organizes cultural education on-site during the event for participants. The event not only raises money for scholarships but also provides a heightened awareness for the importance of this resource to our people and culture.”

Regional corporations also step in when a village in their region needs a helping hand. When more than 100 residents of Newtok had to move nine miles southeast to Mertarvik as the result of flooding, erosion, and permafrost melt, Calista and its subsidiary, Brice Inc., helped make the new village a reality.

Brice Inc., a group of companies that provide civil construction, marine services, materials, and rental equipment, created building pads, roads, and other local infrastructure from a quarry owned by Calista (subsurface rights) and Newtok Native Corporation (surface rights).

Without rock from the quarry, transporting construction materials would have been much more expensive. And the quarry also provides revenue to Newtok Native Corporation, as Calista paid the village corporation for access to its lands during the extraction of material.