Sealaska Plaza in Juneau, headquarters of the Southeast regional Native corporation.
Sealaska’s approximately 21,000 shareholders will get their spring dividends around April 12th. Sealaska’s Board of Directors approved the distribution of more than $12 million at a meeting today at its Juneau headquarters.
Here are details of how the distribution is divided up. Totals assume ownership of 100 shares, the most common number.
- Urban and At-Large Shareholders: $698
- Elder Urban and At-Large Shareholders: $852
- Non-Elder Village and Leftout Shareholders: $154
- Elder Village and Leftout Shareholders: $308
- Descendant Shareholders: $154
Here‘s how the shareholder categories are defined:
- Urban: Also a shareholder in an urban Native corporation, such as Juneau’s Goldbelt or Sitka’s Shee Atiká.
- At-Large: Not a shareholder in any urban or village Native corporation.
- Village: Also a shareholder in a village Native corporation, such as Huna Totem, Kake Tribal, Klukwan and Cape Fox corporations.
- Leftout: Those who were eligible in 1971, when the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act became law, but enrolled later.
- Elder: Original Sealaska shareholder who has reached the age of 65.
- Descendent: Direct descendents of original shareholders who are at least one-quarter Alaska Native.
Here’s where the money comes from, per 100 shares:
- $544 from ANCSA Section 7(i) (regional corporation resources earnings) revenue sharing. A $5.44 per share payment will be made.
- $100 from corporate earnings. 35 percent of the corporate consolidated net earnings averaged over five years, minus earnings associated with the Permanent Fund. The distribution includes an operations dividend of $1.00 per share.
- $54 from dividends from the Marjorie V. Young Permanent Fund, which are based on a percent of market value (POMV) of the fund balance. Based on the POMV calculation, the 2013 April dividend will be $0.54 per share.
Some members of the Juneau-based regional Native corporation have more or fewer than 100 shares due to inheritance or gifting.
Much of the dividend – close to $550 – comes from a pool of regional Native corporation resource earnings. Most of that money comes from Northwest Alaska’s NANA, an owner of theRed Dog Mine.
Sealaska’s urban shareholders receive that part of their dividend directly. The corporation pays village members’ share to their local corporations, which decide whether to pass it on.
Last spring’s distribution was about 20 percent more for urban shareholders and about the same amount less for village members.
Sealaska’s shareholders are mostly of Tlingit, Haida or Tsimshian descent. Close to half live in Southeast.
