Enacted in 1971, ANCSA granted Alaskan Natives approximately 44 million acres of land and $ 1 billion in exchange for the extinguishment of aboriginal title to land in Alaska. The Act created twelve Regional Corporations, organized under Alaska Law, to take title to most of the land and all of the money. The Act also created more than 200 “Village Corporations,” each within one region, which took title to 22 million acres of surface estate. All of the stock in the Regional and Village corporations is owned by the approximately 70,000 Alaska Natives; residents of a given Village own stock in that Village Corporation and in the corresponding Regional Corporation, while Natives like Oliver who do not reside in a Village own at-large shares of their Regional Corporation. Through inheritance, Oliver owns shares in two Regional Corporations.
Plaintiff Glenn Oliver appeals the district court’s dismissal of Oliver’s action to enforce revenue-sharing requirements of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. §§ 1601-1629f (Supp. III 1997) (“ANCSA” or “the Act”). Oliver sued the twelve Regional Corporations in the Superior Court of Alaska under Alaska Statutes § 10.06.015 (Michie 1989) on behalf of himself and a putative class of shareholders, seeking declaratory judgment, an accounting, and a resulting trust. The action was removed [**2] to the district court for the District of Alaska, and the first-served defendant corporation, later joined by nine other defendants, moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The district court dismissed without prejudice, holding that ANCSA § 7(i) & (j), 43 U.S.C. § 1606(i) & (j), did not create an independent cause of action, and that Oliver’s direct action was not cognizable under § 10.06.015. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (1994), and we affirm.Enacted in 1971, ANCSA granted Alaskan Natives approximately 44 million acres of land and $ 1 billion in exchange for the extinguishment of aboriginal title to land in Alaska. The Act created twelve Regional Corporations, organized under Alaska Law, to take title to most of the land and all of the money. The Act also created more than 200 “Village Corporations,” each within one region, which took title to 22 million acres of surface estate. All of the stock in the Regional and Village corporations is owned by the approximately 70,000 Alaska Natives; residents of a given Village own stock in that Village Corporation and in the corresponding Regional Corporation, while Natives like Oliver who do not reside in a Village own at-large shares of their Regional Corporation. Through inheritance, Oliver owns shares in two Regional Corporations.Because of the disparity in natural wealth among the twelve regions, § 7(i) provides for revenue sharing:
Adds precedent that influences how ANCSA corporations, regulators, and shareholders interpret governance rights and remedies.