ANCSA Corporation Proxy Wars

When Congress passed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971 (ANCSA), it directed the creation of twelve regional and over two hundred village corporations chartered under Alaska state law. The Act made governance of those corporations largely subject to Alaska state law, including the laws and regulations applicable to corporate elections. This Article reviews the legal history of the corporate proxy wars and related election issues that the ANCSA corporations and candidates for their boards of directors have waged over the past nearly fifty years in proxy complaints filed with the Alaska Division of Securities, and in state and federal courts. These cases have had important implications for ANCSA corporations, including enormous financial burdens associated with the litigation and impacting who has led ANCSA corporations.