The dispute between the U.S. Department of the Interior and the state of Alaska centers on a small vacant lot in downtown Juneau. This is the latest in a long-running effort by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska for traditional lands to be protected.
Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Richard Peterson signed last week a deed placing a small piece of land in federal trust. The tribe can be eligible for federal programs and services by placing land in trust, including tax credits and exemptions. It could create Indian Country, a small area where tribal law would apply to all but a few state and local laws.
The trust land is located near the corner on Capitol Avenue and Village Street. It covers less than 800 feet. Peterson stated that it is more than the land. It is a significant decision in the history of tribal sovereignty and self determination.
He said that the lands had been illegally and unlawfully taken over the years. “We have tried to legally and lawfully get them back and attempted to protect them until perpetuity span>
Four other applications are pending for the Central Council. The Interior Department will approve them and the total area of 3.5 acres would be placed in trust. Peterson stated that there are no plans to alter the use of the land or buildings, but the tribe wants to keep the Juneau Indian Village its headquarters.
The state of Alaska has challenged the Interior Department’s decision regarding the first lot. They claim it “undermines key Terms” of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, by creating a reserve. This act created Alaska Native corporations, not a reservation system.
“This could cast into doubt the laws that apply when you walk through one city block,” Alaska Attorney-General Treg Taylor stated in a statement .
The state claims that placing this land in trust would “jeopardize the State’s right to tax and enforce land use and natural resource management on that trust land.”
Trusted land can be exempted from most local and state taxation, regulation, and could grant the tribe legal jurisdiction over the land beyond what a landowner has.
The Akiachak Native Communities and other tribes sued Interior Department in 2006, seeking to review a policy that prohibited Alaska Native tribes putting land into trust. The State of Alaska appealed this decision but was denied. Under the Obama administration, the land-intotrust regulations were rewritten to allow Alaska Native Tribes to submit applications for their first time since 1980.
The Craig Tribal Association was the first Alaska tribe approved for this type of application in 2017.
The Interior Department withdrew this revision under Trump’s administration. The department issued a new solicitor’s opinion in late 2017 that allowed land to be placed into trust for Alaska Native tribes.
Peterson stated that having Indian Country in Alaska opens new funding opportunities for federal funding in the form tribal economic development bonds. These funds can only be used on facilities within a reservation. This excludes Alaska Native tribes. He stated that the state has an opportunity for collaboration with tribes to move forward.
He said that span style=”font weight: 400 The state isn’t hurt by our sovereignty.” “There are many states within the union that thrive alongside their tribes .”
Peterson stated that the lawsuit by the state is resetting the relationship between the state and tribes.
He stated that this “endangers all future land trust applications for all tribes — and not just in Juneau but in all rural areas.”
There are also pending applications from Fort Yukon’s Native Village and the Ninilchik Traditional Council to the Interior Department.
