The Reindeer Act or Reindeer Industry Act of 1937 is a

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passed in 1937 by the

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and signed into law by

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on September 1 of that year. The act effectively prohibited the ownership of

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

herds in

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by non-Native Americans. The act was intended to provide for Alaskan natives and to allow them to establish a self-sustaining industry. Authority to promulgate rules regarding the ownership and maintenance of reindeer herds was delegated to the

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via the

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, who banned most transactions to non-natives. The act was modeled in part on Norwegian and

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policies on the ownership of reindeer by the

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of Lapland. Many Sami had arrived in Alaska to manage the reindeer in the 1930s. The Alaskan Sami were required to sell their herds to the government, and many left Alaska after doing so. For sixty years the Reindeer Act maintained a native and government

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

in live reindeer in Alaska. By 1989 the regulations were challenged in court, resulting in a legal distinction between reindeer imported after 1937 by non-Natives and the Native herds. Between 1937 and 1940, the herd population declined drastically as reindeer joined native herds of caribou or were lost on the range. A 1997 decision opened ownership to non-natives.

References

{{US-poli-stub 75th United States Congress Alaska Natives and United States law Native American history of Alaska Reindeer Sámi-American history Territory of Alaska