Connected by Place. Built for Generations.

The story of The Eyak Corporation begins long before the Corporation itself.

For generations, the lands and waters surrounding present-day Cordova have connected Eyak, Sugpiaq, Ahtna and Tlingit peoples. This region has long been a place of movement, relationship and exchange, where different Native histories meet through a shared relationship to the land and waters of this place.

That shared history of connection continues to shape who we are today.

Our Name Carries a Story

Before Eyak was the name of a corporation, it was a name rooted in this place.

The dAXunhyuu place iiyaaG was known in Sugpiaq as Igya’aq, a name that eventually became Eyak in English.

That history reflects something important about The Eyak Corporation. We do not come from one single Native people. Our Shareholders carry many Native histories, connected through generations of relationship to this region and to one another.

When Native leader Cecil Barnes helped establish the Corporation following the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, he proposed the name The Eyak Corporation to honor the Eyak people of the Cordova area and the history of the place the new Corporation would call home.

From ANCSA to Today

The Eyak Corporation was formed on July 25, 1973, following the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971.

The original Act did not recognize a Native village corporation for the Cordova area. Through the efforts of Cecil Barnes and other Native leaders, a petition and enrollment drive led to the creation of The Eyak Corporation and the enrollment of 326 original Shareholders.

From those beginnings, TEC has grown into a family of businesses creating economic opportunity far beyond Alaska while remaining rooted in the people and place at the center of our story.

Our Purpose

The Eyak Corporation exists to create lasting benefit for present and future Shareholders.

Our mission is to return financial benefits through the development of economic opportunities and the growth of our assets while protecting the ownership of our ANCSA lands and Native cultural heritage.

Our focus on business growth is about building a strong and lasting Corporation. By growing our companies, strengthening our assets and creating new opportunities, we are building a legacy for the Shareholders we serve today and for the generations who will follow.

That same responsibility guides how we care for our lands, support our people and carry forward the Native heritage that remains at the heart of who we are.

Our businesses may reach far beyond Alaska, but our purpose remains rooted here.

Looking Forward

More than fifty years after our founding, our responsibility is to keep building on what was created for us. We will continue to grow wisely, protect what has been entrusted to the Corporation, create opportunity for our Shareholders, honor the Native histories connected to this place and leave a stronger Corporation for those who come next.

From here, we build.