S. 2554 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the Senate, Jul 30, 2025
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summarySoutheast Alaska Native communities gain land and self-governance
This bill lets five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska—Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell—form their own urban corporations. The Department of the Interior would give each corporation land, including roads and other facilities on that land. Each community could also set up a trust to support education, health, and culture programs for its members.
How it affects you
If you're an Alaska Native resident of one of these five communities, this would give your community control over local land and the ability to create programs supporting your education, health, and cultural heritage. For other Americans, this is a settlement recognizing these communities' historical status under Alaska Native land rights.
Read the official summary (Introduced in Senate, Jul 30, 2025)
Alaska Native Landless Equity Act
This bill allows five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to form urban corporations and receive land entitlements.
Specifically, the bill allows the Alaska Native residents of each of the Alaska Native villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, to organize as Alaska Native urban corporations and to receive certain settlement land.
The bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey specified land to each urban corporation. Further, Interior must convey the subsurface estate for that land to the regional corporation for Southeast Alaska.
The land conveyed to each urban corporation must include any U.S. interest in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and appurtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the urban corporation.
The bill also allows each urban corporation to establish a settlement trust to (1) promote the health, education, and welfare of the trust beneficiaries; and (2) preserve the Alaska Native heritage and culture of their communities.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
1st SessionS. 2554
A BILL
Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act
Sponsor: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) · Introduced Jul 30, 2025 · Native Americans · 2 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Sep 17, 2026: “Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 639.”
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 2 official versions.