In 1912, Alaska Natives were not U.S. citizens, could not own land or send children to local schools. The Alaska Native Brotherhood formed to promote solidarity and citizenship, abolish racial prejudice, and secure equality through land title and mineral rights. In 1929 William Paul, first Alaska Native elected to the Legislature, convinced Judge Wickersham to attend Grand Camp in Haines.

Wickersham, once a D.C. Congressional delegate, encouraged ANB to sue for Native rights. In 1968, a federal court ruled the land was owned by Native people since time immemorial. This leather sash or koog...