§1604. Enrollment
(a) Eligible Natives; finality of decision
The Secretary shall prepare within two years from December 18, 1971, a roll of all Natives who were born on or before, and who are living on, December 18, 1971. Any decision of the Secretary regarding eligibility for enrollment shall be final.
(b) Residence; order of priority in enrollment of Natives not permanent residents; regional family or hardship enrollment
The roll prepared by the Secretary shall show for each Native, among other things, the region and the village or other place in which he resided on the date of the 1970 census enumeration, and he shall be enrolled according to such residence. Except as provided in subsection (c), a Native eligible for enrollment who is not, when the roll is prepared, a permanent resident of one of the twelve regions established pursuant to section 1606(a) of this title shall be enrolled by the Secretary in one of the twelve regions, giving priority in the following order to-
(1) the region where the Native resided on the 1970 census date if he had resided there without substantial interruption for two or more years;
(2) the region where the Native previously resided for an aggregate of ten years or more;
(3) the region where the Native was born; and
(4) the region from which an ancestor of the Native came: 1
The Secretary may enroll a Native in a different region when necessary to avoid enrolling members of the same family in different regions or otherwise avoid hardship.
(c) Election of enrollment in thirteenth region, if established, of Native nonresidents; dependent household members as bound
A Native eligible for enrollment who is eighteen years of age or older and is not a permanent resident of one of the twelve regions may, on the date he files an application for enrollment, elect to be enrolled in a thirteenth region for Natives who are non-residents of Alaska, if such region is established pursuant to section 1606(c) of this title. If such region is not established, he shall be enrolled as provided in subsection (b). His election shall apply to all dependent members of his household who are less than eighteen years of age, but shall not affect the enrollment of anyone else.
(
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Late Enrollment of Otherwise Qualified Natives
"(b) The Secretary is authorized to poll individual Natives properly enrolled to Native villages or Native groups which are not recognized as Village Corporations under section 11 of the Settlement Act [section 1610 of this title] and which are included within the boundaries of former reserves the Village Corporation or Corporations of which elected to acquire title to the surface and subsurface estate of said reserves pursuant to subsection 19(b) of the Settlement Act [section 1618(b) of this title]. The Secretary may allow these individuals the option to enroll to a Village Corporation which elected the surface and subsurface title under section 19(b) or remain enrolled to the Regional Corporation in which the village or group is located on an at-large basis: Provided, That nothing in this subsection shall affect existing entitlement to land of any Regional Corporation pursuant to section 12(b) or 14(h)(8) of the Settlement Act [section 1611(b) or 1613(h)(8) of this title].
"(c) In those instances where, on the roll prepared under section 5 of the Settlement Act [this section], there were enrolled as residents of a place on April 1, 1970, a sufficient number of Natives required for a Native village or Native group, as the case may be, and it is subsequently and finally determined that such place is not eligible for land benefits under the Act on grounds which include a lack of sufficient number of residents, the Secretary shall; in accordance with the criteria for residence applied in the final determination of eligibility, redetermine the place of residence on April 1, 1970, of each Native enrolled to such place, and the place of residence as so redetermined shall be such Native's place of residence on April 1, 1970, for all purposes under the Settlement Act: Provided, That each Native whose place of residence on April 1, 1970, is changed by reason of this subsection shall be issued stock in the Native corporation or corporations in which such redetermination entitles him to membership and all stock issued to such Native by any Native Corporation in which he is no longer eligible for membership shall be deemed canceled: Provided further, That no redistribution of funds made by any Native Corporation on the basis of prior places of residence shall be affected: Provided further, That land entitlements of any Native village, Native group, Village Corporation, Regional Corporation, or corporations organized by Natives residing in Sitka, Kenai, Juneau, or Kodiak, all as defined in said Act, shall not be affected by any determination of residence made pursuant to this subsection, and no tribe, band, clan, group, village community, or association not otherwise eligible for land or other benefits as a 'Native group' as defined in said Act, shall become eligible for land or other benefits as a Native group because of any redetermination of residence pursuant to this subsection: Provided further, That any distribution of funds from the Alaska Native Fund pursuant to subsection (c) of section 6 of the Settlement Act [section 1605(c) of this title] made by the Secretary or his delegate prior to any redetermination of residency shall not be affected by the provisions of this subsection. Each Native whose place of residence is subject to redetermination as provided in this subsection shall be given notice and an opportunity for hearing in connection with such redetermination as shall any Native Corporation which it appears may gain or lose stockholders by reason of such redetermination of residence."
Establishment by Court Order of 13th Regional Corporation for Benefit of Nonpermanent Residents; Land Selection Entitlements; Previously Issued Stock; Election for Enrollment; Land Entitlements of Corporations or Native Village or Group Eligibility
"(a) Notwithstanding the October 6, 1975, order of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case of Alaska Native Association of Oregon et al. against Rogers C. B. Morton et al., Civil Action Numbered 2133–73, and Alaska Federation of Natives International, Inc., et al. against Rogers C. B. Morton, et al., Civil Action Numbered 2141–73 (- F. Supp. -) [417 F. Supp. 459], changes in enrollments of any Alaska Regional or Village Corporation nor any Native village or group eligibility.
"(b) Stock previously issued by any of the twelve Regional Corporations in Alaska or by Village Corporations to any Native who is enrolled in the thirteenth region pursuant to said order shall, upon said enrollment, be canceled by the issuing corporation without liability to it or the Native whose stock is so canceled: Provided, That, in the event that a Native enrolled in the thirteenth region pursuant to said order shall elect to re-enroll in the appropriate Regional Corporation in Alaska pursuant to the sixth ordering paragraph of that order, stock of such Native may be canceled by the Thirteenth Regional Corporation and stock may be issued to such Native by the appropriate Regional Corporation in Alaska without liability to either corporation or to the Native.
"(c) Whenever additional enrollment under the Settlement Act [this chapter] is permitted pursuant to this Act [enacting sections 1625 to 1627 of this title, amending sections 1615, 1616, 1620, and 1621 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under sections 1604, 1605, 1611, 1613, 1618, and 1625 of this title] or any other provision of law, any Native enrolling under such authority who is determined not to be a permanent resident of the State of Alaska under criteria established pursuant to the Settlement Act shall, at the time of enrollment, elect whether to be enrolled in the thirteenth region or in the region determined pursuant to the provisions of section 5(b) of such act [section 1604(b) of this title] and such election shall apply to all dependent members of such Native's household who are less than eighteen years of age on the date of such election.
"(d) No change in the final roll of Natives established by the Secretary pursuant to section 5 of the Settlement Act [section 1604 of this title] resulting from any regulation promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior providing for the disenrollment of Natives shall affect land entitlements of any Regional or Village Corporation or any Native village or group eligibility."