What is Indian country in Alaska?
ANCSA extinguished reservations in Alaska, except the Annette Island Reservation (Metlakatla Indian Community), and instead instituted corporations established under state law. ANCSA did not extinguish tribal status. ANCSA took the land that would in other cases constitute the nexus of the tribe and put it into private corporation ownership. As a result of ANCSA, most of the land previously recognized as tribal is not considered Indian country. This was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Alaska v Native Village of Venetie (1998), which found that in order to satisfy the test for designation as Indian country, certain criteria must be met. These are: 1) the land must have been set aside by the federal government for the use of Indians as Indian land; and 2) the land must be under federal superintendence. Since ANCSA land is owned by corporations formed under state law, the land is not set aside exclusively for the use of the tribes, nor is it under federal superintendence. It does n
