Ahtna Incorporated

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Ahtna, Incorporated is one of 13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations established by Congress under terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

Address PO BOX 649
Glennallen, Alaska 99588
Native Cultures Athabaskan
Worldwide Employees 100
Phone (907) 822-3476 Alaska Employees 50
Website http://www.ahtna-inc.com/ Shareholders 5000
Email brebne@ahtna.net Original Shareholders 640
Land Conveyed 35000

Ahtna, Inc., owns in fee title, approximately 1,528,000 acres in the Copper River Basin in east-central Alaska, conveyed in December 1998 from an entitlement of 1,770,000 acres.

Seven villages within the Ahtna Region are merged with Ahtna, Inc., and all  are Federally Recognized Tribes. Ahtna Inc. has approximately 1200 shareholders, of which the majority reside in the Copper River Region.

Native Villages and Village Corporations in the Ahtna Region:

Community Name Corporation Name
Cantwell Yedetena Na Corp
Chistochina Ahtna (Yedetena Na Corp)
Chitina Chitina Native Corp
Copper Center Ahtna ( Kluti-Kaa Corp)
Gakona Ahtna (Gakona Corp)
Little Lake Louise Little Lake Louise Inc.
Lower Tonsina Lower Tonsina Inc
Mentasta Lake Ahtna (Mentasta Inc.)
Nebesna Nebesna Native Group Inc.
Slana Slana Native Corp
Tazlina Talzina Inc.
Twin Lake Twin Lake Native Group Inc.

Village corporations merged with Ahtna:

In 1980, seven of the village corporations in the Ahtna region merged with Ahtna. These included the village corporations of

  1. Yedatene Na Corporation (Cantwell)
  2. Na, Incorporated (Chistochina)
  3. Gakona Corporation (Gakona)
  4. Keh Corporation (Gulkana)
  5. Kaah Corporation (Kluti-Kaah in Copper Center)
  6. Mentasta, Incorporated (Mentasta)
  7. Tazlina, Incorporated (Tazlina).

Ahtna assumed management of the lands of the seven merged corporations; however, under terms of the merger agreement, the former village corporations were permitted to maintain shareholder committees known as Successor Village Organizations (SVO) each of which retains the right to reasonably withhold consent to new development of former village lands.

Chitina Native Corporation (in Chitina) chose not to merge with Ahtna, and retains rights to the surface estate of its lands. Rights to the subsurface estate of its lands are with Ahtna, Inc., per the requirements of ANCSA.

A thirteen-member board directs corporate operations.

Headquartered in Glennallen, Alaska, with corporate offices in Anchorage, Ahtna, Inc., is committed to providing a broad range of opportunities for its shareholders and preserving their Native culture.

The Ahtna family of companies includes fifteen operating subsidiaries; twelve of which are managed by Ahtna Netiye’, Inc., the business holding company for Ahtna, Inc. Ahtna Netiye’ is based in Anchorage, Alaska, and is headed by Interim CEO Michelle Anderson and a six-member board.

Ahtna subsidiaries are involved in a myriad of activities, including civil and vertical construction, environmental remediation, facilities management and support services, food service contractors, forestry and gravel sales, government contracting, healthcare and medical records services, janitorial services, tourism, oil and gas pipelines maintenance and construction, staff augmentation, surveying, and training range operations.

The Ahtna Region

The Ahtna Region is located in the Alaskan south-central interior and encompasses the Copper River Basin and the Wrangell Mountains. The region is bordered by the Mentasta and Nutzotin Mountains to the northeast, the Alaska Range to the north, the Talkeetna Mountains to the west and the Chugach Mountains to the south. The Wrangell Mountains are made up of dormant volcanoes with one exception. Mt. Wrangell is the largest active volcano in North America.

The Ahtna Region includes the entire Copper River watershed, including the Chitina, the Chistochina, the Gulkana, the Tazlina, the Gakona and portions of the Susitna and Nenana watersheds.

The Copper River system is the fourth largest in Alaska, and is the most extensively glacier-influenced. The region includes about 46,000 square miles of land, which is largely unexplored, but rich deposits of copper, gold, silver, lead, molybdenum, and platinum are known.

Two National Parks, Denali National Park and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, also dominate the Ahtna Region. Ahtna holds title to 300 acres within Denali National Park and approximately 25,000 acres under selection adjacent to Denali National Park. Within Wrangell-St. Elias, Ahtna has approximately 622,000 acres conveyed.

Ahtna’s lands are private lands and are open to entry by permit only.

A permit fee is required for public and commercial activities, although some activities may not be allowed on certain tracts of land. Use of Ahtna lands without a permit is considered trespassing.

Culture of Ahtna Shareholders

Ahtna, Inc. shareholders are mainly comprised of the Ahtna Athabascan people of the Copper River and Cantwell regions of southcentral Alaska. The Ahtna people take their name from the indigenous word for the Copper River, which flows through Ahtna land.

The language of the Ahtna people, which is also referred to by the same name, belongs to the Na-Dene language family that includes the Tlingit, Eyak, and Athabascan languages of North America. The four distinct dialects of the Ahtna language are still spoken today, and there are strong efforts to increase its use amongst current and new generations of shareholders to keep the language from going extinct.

Historically, the Ahtna people were semi-nomadic and extensive travelers, continually following their food source and moving from place to place according to the seasons. Although most Ahtna are no longer nomadic, the traditions and ways of life of the past, especially the practice of a subsistence lifestyle, continue to this day.

Leading Causes of Death in the AHTNA Region

Between 2009-2013, 111 people died in the AHTNA Region. The top 5 causes of death were:

1) Malignant Neoplasms (35)
2) Diseases of the Heart (22)
3) Unintentional Injuries (13)
4) Cerebrovascular Diseases (8)
5) Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases (4)