Bering Straits Native Corporation

Bering Straits Native Corporation, or BSNC, is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Bering Straits Native Corporation was incorporated in Alaska on June 23, 1972. Headquartered in Nome, Alaska, Bering Straits Native Corporation is a for-profit corporation with about 7,300 Alaska Native shareholders primarily of Inupiat, Siberian Yupik, and Yup'ik descent.

Mission

The mission of Bering Straits Native Corporation is to ..."improve the quality of life of our people through economic development while protecting our land and preserving our culture and heritage."

Officers and Directors

A current listing of Bering Straits Native Corporation's officers and directors, as well as documents filed with the State of Alaska since BSNC's incorporation, are available online at www.beringstraits.com, through the Corporations Database of the Division of Corporations, Business & Professional Licensing, Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.

Shareholders and Descendants

At incorporation, Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC) enrolled about 6,333 Alaska Native shareholders, each of whom received 100 shares of BSNC stock. As an ANCSA corporation, BSNC has no publicly traded stock and its shares cannot legally be sold.

BSNC is committed to providing meaningful benefits to its shareholders and descendants. There are many benefits that come with being a BSNC shareholder or descendant, including eligibility to receive scholarships from the Bering Straits Foundation (BSF) and hire preference for qualified shareholders, descendants and shareholder spouses. In addition to these benefits, BSNC issues shareholder dividends, Elder dividends and bereavement benefits.

Descendants are eligible to receive scholarships from the Bering Straits Foundation and qualified job applicants are eligible for the same hiring preference offered to BSNC shareholders. Descendants who meet academic qualifications are eligible to participate in BSNC’s Summer Internship Program. Descendant use of BSNC’s lands for recreational and subsistence endeavors is allowed and encouraged. For any commercial activity Land Use Permits should be submitted to the BSNC Land and Resource Department. Please visit www.beringstraits.com/lands to learn more. In addition to these benefits, BSNC issues bereavement benefits provided to families to assist after the death of an original BSNC shareholder, spouse of an original BSNC shareholder, or lineal descendant of an original BSNC shareholder.

Gifting stock to descendants

Under the 1991 Amendments to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), shareholders may give stock to a person who is their child, grandchild, great-grandchild, niece, nephew, brother or sister and who is also a Native or descendant of a Native. H.R. 3157 “The Alaska Land Status Technical Corrections Act of 1992,” allows for gift of stock to siblings. The law defines a Native as a person who is at least one-fourth degree Alaska Indian, Eskimo or Aleut blood, or any combination; a descendant of a Native is a lineal descendant (child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc.) of a Native or an adoptee of a Native or descendant of a Native is who is adopted before the age of 18. Once the gift is completed on the corporate books, the recipient will own and have all the stock rights for those shares, including the right to vote the shares at the shareholder meetings, to receive dividends and distributions on the shares, to bequeath the shares upon death, or to give the shares to a relative.

Lands

The BSNC region encompasses most of the Seward Peninsula and eastern Norton Sound in Alaska. BSNC's land entitlement under ANCSA includes over 2.1 million acres (8,900 km²) of surface and/or subsurface estate in this region.

Business enterprises

Under federal law, Bering Straits Native Corporation and its majority-owned subsidiaries, joint ventures and partnerships are deemed to be "minority and economically disadvantaged business enterprise[s]" (43 USC 1626(e)).

External links

• Bering Straits Native Corporation (official website).