I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1418 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Alexander 

Creek, Alaska, is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village 

under that Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2017 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide that Alexander Creek, Alaska, is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village under that Act, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ALEXANDER CREEK VILLAGE RECOGNITION. 

4 The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

5 1601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 43. ALEXANDER CREEK VILLAGE RECOGNITION. 

2 ‘‘(a) RECOGNITION OF THE VILLAGE OF ALEXANDER

3 CREEK.—Subject to the limitations of this section and 

4 notwithstanding section 1432(d) of the Alaska National 

5 Interest Lands Conservation Act (Public Law 96–487) 

6 and any conveyance or agreement in furtherance thereof 

7 or thereto, to the contrary, Alexander Creek, located with8 in Township 15N, Range 7W, Seward Meridian, Alaska, 

9 is and shall be recognized as an eligible Native village 

10 under section 11(b)(3) of this Act. 

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 

12 the following terms apply: 

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘agency’ includes— 

14 ‘‘(A) any instrumentality of the United 

15 States; 

16 ‘‘(B) any element of an agency; and 

17 ‘‘(C) any wholly owned or mixed-owned 

18 corporation of the United States Government 

19 identified in chapter 91 of title 31, United 

20 States Code. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Alexander Creek’ means Alex22 ander Creek, Incorporated, an Alaska Native Group 

23 corporation organized pursuant to this Act prior to 

24 the enactment of this section, but subsequent to en25 actment of this section means Alexander Creek, InVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1418.IH H1418

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1 corporated, an Alaska Native Village corporation 

2 recognized and organized pursuant to section (a). 

3 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Region’ means Cook Inlet Re4 gion Incorporated, an Alaska Native Regional Cor5 poration, which is the appropriate Regional Corpora6 tion for Alexander Creek under section 1613(h) of 

7 this Act. 

8 ‘‘(c) ORGANIZATION OF ALEXANDER CREEK.—As 

9 soon as practicable after enactment of this section, Alex10 ander Creek shall cause to be filed— 

11 ‘‘(1) any amendments to its corporate charter 

12 in the State of Alaska necessary to convert from a 

13 Native group to a Native Village corporation; and 

14 ‘‘(2) if necessary, any amendments to its cor15 porate charter and governing business documents 

16 that fulfill the terms of the agreement authorized 

17 under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(d) NEGOTIATIONS.—Not later than 30 days after 

19 the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 

20 shall open negotiations with Alexander Creek and, not 

21 later than 13 months after the date of the enactment of 

22 this section, reach an agreement with Alexander Creek to 

23 fairly and equitably settle Alexander Creek’s aboriginal 

24 land claims and any other claims of Alexander Creek 

25 against the United States. An agreement under this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:59 Mar 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1418.IH H1418

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1 tion shall be in approximate value parity with those of 

2 other Alaska Native Village Corporations, notwithstanding 

3 Alexander Creek’s prior status as a Group Corporation. 

4 The Secretary shall effectuate such agreement under the 

5 authority in this section, other existing authorities, and 

6 in coordination with the Administrator pursuant to 40 

7 U.S.C. 549 with respect to property to be transferred to 

8 Alexander Creek pursuant to such agreement. Notwith9 standing paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 549(a) of title 

10 40, United States Code, Alexander Creek is hereby consid11 ered both a ‘State’ and a ‘State agency’ under that section 

12 for the sole purpose of the Secretary effectuating an agree13 ment under this section. 

14 ‘‘(e) SHAREHOLDER PARTICIPATION.—Alexander 

15 Creek shall notify each member of the Native village rec16 ognized under this section that, upon the effective date 

17 of this section, such members shall cease to receive bene18 fits from the Region as at-large shareholders pursuant to 

19 section 7(m), and that all future resource payments from 

20 the Region shall be made to the Village Corporation pur21 suant to section 7(j). The Region shall not be liable under 

22 any State, Federal, or local law, or under State or Federal 

23 common law, for damages arising out of or related to the 

24 cessation of payments to such individuals under section 

25 7(m) pursuant to this section. 


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1 ‘‘(f) CONSTRUCTION.—Except as provided in this sec2 tion with respect to Alexander Creek, nothing in this sec3 tion shall be construed to modify or amend land convey4 ance entitlements or conveyance agreements between the 

5 Region and village corporations other than Alexander 

6 Creek in such region, nor between the Region and the 

7 Federal Government, nor between any such parties and 

8 the State of Alaska. 

9 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION REGARDING CURRENT ALEX10 ANDER CREEK LAND.—Nothing in this section shall be 

11 construed to reduce the land entitlement to which Alex12 ander Creek became entitled as a Group Corporation, in13 cluding the land selected by and conveyed to Alexander 

14 Creek at the time of enactment of this section.’’. 

Æ 


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