Alaska Natives face many complex issues in the 21st century. Some of these issues are the result of federal legislation that has defined and constrained Alaska Natives in various ways while creating institutions to address the special relationship between Indigenous Alaskans and the federal government. Among the most difficult of the issues is establishing who is an Alaska Native because the term is defined differently for various purposes under federal legislation. Who is an Alaska Native, how does one know, and who decides is also critically important to establishing who is eligible to hunt marine mammals and create traditional handicrafts from marine mammal materials under the regulatory definitions of Alaska Native that have been adopted by federal agencies to implement the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The MMPA regulatory definitions emphasize 1/4 blood quantum as the primary criteria for identifying an Alaska Native. This report addresses issues associated with the question of defining who is an Alaska Native under the regulatory definitions of the MMPA. 

SHI’s Box of Knowledge Series consists of essays, reports, and books that the institute considers should be made available as a contribution to studies on Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures, history, and languages. They may be based on work carried out by researchers working in collaboration with SHI, contributions prepared by external experts, and work by staff.