Land return
NANA Regional Corporation land transfers (Alaska)
Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.
Interior announced July 16, 2025 that it conveyed nearly 28,000 acres to NANA Regional Corporation under ANCSA, for a total over 713,000.
- Nation
- Inupiat (NANA shareholders)
- Where
- Northwest Alaska
- Acres
- 28,000
- Began
- 1971
- Status
- Returned
What happened
Alaska is a distinct legal setting. Land there went to Alaska Native corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, not to tribal governments as trust land. The corporation here, NANA Regional Corporation, represents Inupiat shareholders in Northwest Alaska; High Country News describes it as an Alaska Native corporation comprising 11 villages.
On July 16, 2025, the Department of the Interior announced the conveyance of nearly 28,000 acres to NANA Regional Corporation, Inc., under Section 12(c) of ANCSA. Interior said this brought the total conveyed to NANA to more than 713,000 acres, and left NANA's land entitlement 96 percent complete. Interior said the land lies at the western end of the proposed Ambler Road corridor and is no longer under Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction.
Interior framed the transfer as support for Alaska resource development, citing Secretary Doug Burgum's statement that putting land into Alaska Native hands advances opportunity while reducing federal barriers to resource development. It noted that while initial land selections were completed in the early 1970s, the Bureau of Land Management continues to work on complex conveyances like this one.
High Country News reported in February 2026 that the transfer actually began with the 1971 settlement act and that over 700,000 acres have been returned to Alaska Natives since then.
Good to know. NANA is a for-profit Alaska Native corporation, not a tribal government, and the land is not trust land. These acres fill an entitlement from the 1971 settlement, not newly recovered land.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Well supported by the sources below.
the conveyance of nearly 28,000 acres of land to NANA Regional Corporation, Inc., under Section 12(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
Interior Finalizes Major Alaskan Land Transfer to NANA Regional Corporation (DOI, July 16, 2025)bringing the total conveyed to NANA to more than 713,000 acres
Interior Finalizes Major Alaskan Land Transfer to NANA Regional Corporation (DOI, July 16, 2025)While the initial land selections were completed in the early 1970s, the Bureau of Land Management continues to work on complex conveyances like this one.
Interior Finalizes Major Alaskan Land Transfer to NANA Regional Corporation (DOI, July 16, 2025)the land transfer actually began with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971
LandBack advances across the West (High Country News, Feb. 2026)
Research notes. Alaska Native corporations are business entities, and ANCSA land is not trust land; this is not a return of land to a tribal government. The corporation's own statement was not opened. The nearly 28,000 acres are an entitlement being filled under ANCSA, not newly recovered ceded land. The transfer date of July 16, 2025 comes from the Interior release; the atlas record had none.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
Working with these nations
- NANA Regional Corporation Nation government Nearly 28,000 acres transferred under ANCSA (HCN)
- United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB) Nation government Long-term guardianship of lands, air and waters, Tribal self-determination Give on their site Website
- Native Conservancy (Cordova, Alaska) Native-led LandBack, OceanBack and PeopleBack programs: Native-led conservation trusts, regenerative mariculture, return of… Give on their site Website
- Native Movement (Alaska) Native-led Indigenous rights, environmental justice, food sovereignty and grassroots organizing (not a land buyer) Give on their site Website
- Spruce Root (Seacoast Trust / Sustainable Southeast Partnership) Native-led Indigenous-led conservation funding: Indigenous Guardians, community forest partnerships, food sovereignty in… Give on their site Website
Land return and Native-led work nearby
- Potlatch Fund Native-led Native philanthropy and grantmaking to Native individuals and Native-led organizations Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named 1
- Inupiatsuggested
Located in 1
- Alaskasuggested
Policy era 1
- Self-Determination1970suggested
Supported by 1
Sources
- Kind
- Land return
- Confidence
- Medium
- Nation review
- Not yet reviewed by this nation
- Notes
- Distinct legal context