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 In 1971, The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANSCA) repealed the 1906 law granting 160 acres to Alaska Natives who could prove, as head of household, that they maintained “substantially continuous use and occupancy of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.