Alaska Natives who served overseas during the Vietnam war came home to discover they had missed the deadline to receive their 160-acre land allotment. In 1971, The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) repealed the 1906 law granting 160 acres to Alaska Natives who could prove, as head of household, that they maintained “substantially continuous use and occupancy of that land for a period of five years.”
Many Alaska Natives served in the military during the Vietnam War, which spanned two decades from 1955 to 1975. In fact, Native Americans, including Alaskan Natives, serve in the U.S. military at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in America. Sullivan states: “These are great heroes, and they served at higher rates in Vietnam. You go into an Alaskan Native village and ask, ‘how many veterans do we have?’ Almost every male in the village raises their hand.”
Senator Sullivan championed the Alaska Native Vietnam Land Allotment Program, which President Trump signed into law in 2019. The program works to ensure all Native Alaskan veterans who missed the land allotment deadline because they were serving overseas can still receive their allotment. The 2019 bill allowed 5 years for implementation.
On December 16, 2025, the Senate passed a 5-year extension of the program. The extension became necessary due to the Biden administration Department of Interior’s (DOI) decision to postpone key steps allowing implementation of the program. DOI cited the need for additional environmental analysis as the cause of delay.
Although Congresswoman Deb Haaland assured Senator Sullivan twice prior to her confirmation as Secretary of the Interior that she would “expedite the application process in granting these allotments to these Vietnam vets,” she did not keep her promise. Two months into her tenure, she placed a 2-year freeze on the program. During his speech to the Senate on Dec 16, Sullivan fumed over Haaland’s “blatant– I am still mad about it– disregard for her commitment she made to me.”
The program was due to expire this year but has now been extended another five years.
These Viet Nam Vets do not deserve this treatment by anyone. Get it done and give them what has been promised.. My brother, a Viet Nam Veteran would say the same thing but he can’t. He is buried in a National Cemetery because of the war, so I will say to do what is promised. They have lived their commitment. Now ante up and finish the promise.
Vietnam veterans are aging out. Let’s get this done in a time frame that is meaningful.
Say what you will, I don’t want land that belong to all of us be given to a special privilege few. Our country didn’t steal Natives’ land like some radical Leftists such as Howard Zinn alleged so we shouldn’t be ‘returning land promised to them’. There are Americans that also served in the Vietnam War and didn’t get land promised to them after these years, it’s not fair to them these special privileges few get free stuff over them. I am calling BS as I see it. Sorry that truth doesn’t care about your feelings
Oh really? So native Americans just gave their land away willingly? You’re delusional.
I would rather Alaskan Natives owned their own land, but they decided to give it up to oil companies in exchange for the permanent fund. So in reality, the land was not stolen, it was sold. But before that it was conquered and before that it belonged to the dinosaurs. However dinosaurs did not have brainless leftists fighting for their native heritage so it he dinosaurs got turned into the oil that the natives sold to the oil companies.
How is that for delusional? Are you not entertained.
This land was made for you and me!
AS a VN vet who’s brother lost both legs there, I call BULL s*it on this crap. If one VN Vet gets this huge, amazing benefit, ALL VN vets should. Clearly a profound example of racial prejudice. I hope all Alaskan vets vote against the people we elected to represent US at the next opportunity.
It will be affirming to view a legitimate Executive Branch of the Federal government execute its duties in this matter’s implementation.
Surely a ‘President KaMoloch” would have turned this into a USAID type grifting somaliesque catastrophe like everything else that took place during the TibetanPlateau-AutoPenJoe regime.