Alaska Natives organize the Arctic Slope Native Association to contest in a legal suit that the State of Alaska has violated Alaska Native land rights by opening their lands for lease to private oil companies, netting over one billion dollars. Other Native claims result in settlement legislation in Congress, giving Alaska Natives a land grant of 44 million acres and $962 million in compensation for giving up claims to nine-tenths of Alaska. The land is to be divided among 220 Native village “corporations” and 12 regional corporations established under the Act for doing business for profit. Although the Alaska Federation approves of the project, it remains controversial among Alaska Natives, who see it as destroying traditional lands and cultural practices associated with land-based activities and cultural responsibilities.