Right on. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 gave the Alaska Natives land before state entitlements were even selected. Tribal Americans were placed into a corporate structure with 12, then 13 Regional Corporations. There are adjoining non-profit corporations, and some 200 village corporations. That was what it took to get the pipeline built over the efforts of obstructionist environmentalists.
The Alaska Permanent Fund is a natural antithesis to the massive ANSCA settlement; revenues going to State government are invested in trust for future Alaskans rather than pissed away. The federal government has been our big daddy for a long time and with development of natural resources we are finally finding a way to appropriately develop this wonderful part of the world. It is expected that a lot of knee-jerk Outsiders wouldn't have a clue about why we have created an innovative approach to provide basic services for so few people spread over so many miles.