Talk:Alaska Federation of Natives

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Notability of AFN[edit]

Formed in the late 1960's to address several political issues, Willie Hensley and others spearheaded the movement that induced Congress to create the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA).

Early on, AFN induced US Secretary of the Interior Udall to impose a federal "land freeze" that postponed construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) project. TAPS became known as the Alyeska Pipeline, linking the inaccessable oil fields of Alaska's North Slope (i.e. Prudhoe Bay) to the tidewater pipeline terminal at Valdez, Alaska.

The article alludes to, but makes no mention, of the impact of the discovery of oil upon the negotiation between the AFN and the federal government. While the article describes the mission statement and goals of the AFN, it provides little history. This ignores the fact that the AFN brokered a deal with the federal government, the ANCSA, which may have done more harm than good. Ultimately, the article's shortcomings lie in its cookie cutter description of the AFN. It fails to critically examine actions taken by AFN officials in the late 1960s. Furthermore, the impacts of the ANCSA are hand-in-hand with the AFN. Perhaps a brief section of the affects of the ANCSA would be appropriate. Furthermore, the article could include notable AFN members, their role in developing the organization, and how they have continued to contribute to the cause of the AFN. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:14F:4000:5527:80BD:C8B0:705A:5FC9 (talk) 20:25, 7 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Without AFN's work a very significant change in land ownership and the economic base of Alaska would be very different. Without the financial support of the Native Village of Tyonek, AFN would not have had the funding to fly people to Washington, D.C.. Without lawyers like Clifford Groh and Roger Cremo, the natives of Tyonek would not have prevailed in their lawsuit against the U.S. government regarding the taking of the natural gas under lands surrounding the village. //Don K. (talk) 03:47, 12 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Great. Could you put all that in the article, and include some reliable sources? Beeblebrox (talk) 01:07, 27 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

AFN is very notable. Unfortunately, notability is far better established by going through old Alaskan newspapers, as opposed to the ease of a Google search. I believe the Tundra Times archive is online, though. That may be the best place to find source material.

Whomever challenged the notability of this article did no favors. Someone responded to that by filling the page with material which was copied and pasted from AFN's website. Every part of the article appeared to come from AFN itself, except for the section on the convention. In all likelihood, with this year's convention coming up in weeks, AFN changed the content from what it was when this person did their cut-and-paste job. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RadioKAOS (talk • contribs) 00:42, 30 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]