Payments of Scholarships and Funeral Benefits to Class A and Class B Shareholders

Based on some recent social media posts, we wanted to give you some clarification regarding the payments of scholarships and funeral benefits to Class A and Class B shareholders. As you may recall, in 1997 Shee Atiká shareholders voted to establish the Shee Atiká Benefits Trust (SABT, an ANCSA Settlement Trust) for the purpose of paying educational and funeral benefits to its shareholders.  The thing about Settlement Trusts (it's the same with the Shee Atiká Fund Endowment (SAFE), which is where distributions are paid from), you must treat all shareholders equally (Class A and Class B in Shee Atiká’s case) except in one instance, and that is voting.  Only Class A (Native) shareholders are authorized to vote, Class B (non-Native) shareholders are not.  However, Class A and Class B shareholders are eligible for benefits and distributions equally.  This is a requirement of the Trusts and these Trusts were voted on and approved by the shareholders.

We used SABT to pay scholarships and funeral benefits from 1997-2013, so both Class A and Class B shareholders received those benefits during those years.  Then, when the board made significant budget cuts to begin in 2014, they also decided to "shelve" SABT until they could figure out a way to fully fund the Trust so that it could become self-sustaining (i.e. earn enough income on its own to pay out benefits, like SAFE does). Until then, Shee Atiká, Inc. (SAI) would start paying out the scholarships beginning in 2014.  Shee Atiká Inc can only pay benefits to Class A shareholders, so that is what some are remembering.  So, from 2014 until Dec 2023, SAI paid out the benefits.  When the Board decided to start funding SABT in 2024, we started paying out benefits from SABT again, which made it so both Class A and Class B shareholders were eligible again. 

Going back to SABT as the funding mechanism for scholarships and funeral benefits has been a priority for all the boards over the years, we just hadn't been earning enough income at SAI until recently to consider it.  Using SABT saves SAI money.  When SAI contributes funds to SABT for scholarships and funeral benefits, it provides for a tax deduction that far outweighs the small amount we pay out in Class B scholarships and funeral benefits.  

We hope this helps clarify some of the information circulating online. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to the office at info@sheeatika.com.