Mary T. Akootchook Sergie Alexanderoff Daniel Akootchook George Akootchook Adeline Jim v. United States of America Gale A. Norton

George Akootchook, Mary T. Akoot-chook, Daniel Akootchook, Sergie Alexan-deroff, and Adeline Jim (as heir of George Jim, Sr.), are five native Alaskans who challenge the Department of Interior’s decision denying their applications for land allotments under the Alaska Native Allotment Act. The Department concluded that the claims to allotments were not valid because, prior to withdrawal of the land from the public domain, the individuals did not use the land independent of them families. For the reasons stated, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of the action.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The 1887 General Allotment Act provided Indians not residing on a reservation with the opportunity to apply for a 160-acre allotment on unsurveyed and otherwise unappropriated land of the United States. In 1906, Congress passed the Alaska Native Allotment Act (ANAA) to clarify the rights of Indians and Eskimos to apply for allotments of unappropriated, vacant, and unreserved nonmineral land in Alaska. To be eligible, the applicants had to show “substantially continuous use and occupancy of the land for a period of five years” prior to the date the land was withdrawn from the public domain.…