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The Bering Straits Native Corporation region is the most culturally
diverse region established through the Alaska Native Land Claims.
Three distinct languages (Inupiat, Siberian Yup’ik and Central
Yup’ik) are spoken here. It is not known with certainty where
the boundary between the Central Yup’ik and Inupiat languages
was located. It appears that the areas north and west of Solomon were
occupied by Inupiat speakers while the area to the east and south
was the homeland of Yup’ik. The people of the Diomede and King
Islands are Inupiat and Saint Lawrence Island is the home of the only
Siberian Yup’ik people on the American side of Bering Strait.
The lifestyles and subsistence pursuits of the Bering Strait people were even more diverse than the languages spoken here. Inland caribou hunters and fisherman, exemplified by the Qawiaramiut people (now Mary’s Igloo and Teller Native Corporation) occupied most of the interior of the Seward Penninsula. Along the coast margin of Norton Sound, Unaliq people pursued sea mammals, fish and caribou. King Island, some 40 miles off the mainland and only 2.3 square miles in area supported people who were walrus, polar bear, and seal hunters. Like the King islanders, the Diomede Island and Saint Lawrence Island people have lived off the oceans resources. Small groups of people from the areas of the Selawik and Kobuk Rivers, located north of the BSNC region, migrated south, beginning around 160 years ago to occupy the communities of Norton Sound. This migration may have been the result of a famine in the northern area, combined with the devastation brought by smallpox and the disappearance of the local caribou herds. These Malemiut speakers (a dialect of Inupiat) married into the remaining families of Yup’ik speakers, eventually settling in the communities of Koyuk, Shaktoolik, and Unalakleet. The communities of St. Michael and Stebbins are the home of Central Yup’ik people. While the introduction of cash into the local economies, the establishment of permanent communities, schools, churches and health services have brought significant change over the past 100 years, living off the land continues to be the central component of each community’s identity. Balancing the need for cash to supplement and enhance subsistence pursuits with the ancient history of land use and natural resource stewardship is a continuing testament to the strength and viability of the region’s people. |
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| When
BSNC was established through ANCSA, over 6000 shareholders enrolled
as members in 1973. In most cases each shareholder received 100 shares
in BSNC and 100 shares in the village corporation to which they enrolled.
Since that time some shareholders have gifted or passed their stock
on to descendants or heirs. All shares of stock issued when Bering
Straits Native Corporation was formed was voting stock. Today, however,
if the stock is held by a non-native through inheritance, those shares
of stock are non-voting. The BSNC Shareholders Relations department can provide information regarding your shares. Additionally, we can assist you with your questions regarding any transfer of shares through inheritance or gifting of shares. |
©
2008 Bering Straits Native Corporation
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