Wrangell Sentinel -

A U.S. Senate committee last week advanced legislation to create Native corporations in Wrangell, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee and Haines — if it can win Senate and House approval in the next 12 months.

The five “landless Natives” communities were left out of the 1971 Alaska Native Lands Claims Settlement Act, which created regional, urban and village corporations across the state.

Legislation to grant lands to the five communities has been introduced to Congress multiple times over the decades, but this year is the first time any landless bill has made it out of a committee.

The Senate Ener...