Guide to the Joan Elva Corliss papers
1948, 1966-1972
Collection number: HMC-1082.
Creator: Corliss, Joan Elva.
Title: Joan Elva Corliss papers.
Dates: 1948, 1966-1972.
Volume of collection: 0.7 cubic feet and 963 MB.
Language of materials: Collection materials are primarily in English. Select materials are written in Tlingit or shorthand.
Collection summary: Papers of a secretary and board member of the Alaska Federation of Natives.
Biographical note:
Joan Elva Corliss (also known as Elva Naanes) was born in Anchorage in 1931 to Alice Brown. Her maternal grandparents were John “Moosemeat” and Anastasiia Nutnal’tna Hedberg from the Kenai and Nikiski area. She was a Kenaitze tribal member. Corliss served as the Alaska Federation of Natives’ first executive secretary and as a member on the first executive board. She testified before the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs on Alaska Native Land Claims in 1968. Corliss continued her activism for Alaska Native rights throughout her life, including on land use and subsistence. Corliss died in 2004.
Collection description:
This collection contains a selection of files kept by Joan Elva Corliss as the first secretary and Board member for the Alaska Federation of Natives from roughly 1968 to 1972. This includes the AFN constitution and bylaws, resolutions, and Board meeting minutes, notes, and correspondence. The collection also holds some administrative materials from Native corporations, including delegate election instructions for the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians, lists of villages and corporations, and an audiocassette recording of a meeting about the formation of Cook Inlet Regional, Inc. Further, there are clippings, articles, speeches, and testimonies given by Alaska Federation of Natives Board members about land claims and Native rights. These Board members include John Borbridge, Alice Brown, and Nick Gray.
Arrangement: This collection is in the order in which it arrived at the Archives. It is foldered roughly by topic.
Digitized copies: The audiocassette tape in this collection has been digitized and is available for use in the Archives research room. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: The Archives holds copyright to materials in this collection held by Joan Elva Corliss.
Preferred citation: Joan Elva Corliss papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Works used in preparation of inventory:
Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Subsistence Board. “FSB Public Meeting transcripts 04-May-00.” Department of the Interior. Last accessed February 17, 2025: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/migrated/subsistence/library/transcripts/upload/FSB-Public-Meeting-Transcripts-04-May-00.pdf
“Joan Corliss obituary.” Anchorage Daily News. June 21, 2004.
Related materials: The Archives holds the papers of Corliss’ mother: HMC-1060, Alice E. Brown papers. For more collections related to Alaska Natives, please see our Alaska Native collections topic guide.
Acquisition note: This collection was gifted to the Archives by the creator’s daughter Rebecca Lyon in 2010.
Processing information: This collection was described by Luna V. De La Rosa in 2025. Metal fasteners were removed. Materials in envelopes were removed from the envelopes and flattened. Newspaper clippings and duplicates were removed.
Container list:
| Box/
Folder |
Description | Dates |
| 1/1 | Survey, AFN report of activities, constitution, and bylaws | 1966-1967 |
| 1/2 | Statement to senate, Native reserves chart, land claims bills, newsletter | 1948,
1967-1969 |
| 1/3 | First Statewide Native Conference resolutions, reports, and speeches | 1966 October |
| 1/4 | Notes, chamber of commerce speech, Dr. Bently Glass biography, John Borbridge statements | 1969
|
| 1/5 | Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indians delegate election instructions & constitution, John Borbridge statements, RurALCAP newsletter | circa 1969 |
| 1/6 | Correspondence, petition, and clippings about Alaska Native land claims activism | circa 1969 |
| 1/7 | Anchorage Daily Slime | 1969 November |
| 1/8 | Correspondence, list of villages and associations, speech to senate committee, petition, and clippings | 1968-1969 |
| 1/9 | Correspondence, donation certificate, meeting report, speech by General Edgar Boyko | 1967-1968 |
| 1/10 | AFN meeting minutes, correspondence, statements, and clippings | 1967-1969 |
| 1/11 | AFN board correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, and clippings | 1966-1972 |
| 1/12 | AFN & corporation correspondence, reports, democratic reporter newsletters, news releases, and clippings | 1966-1969
|
| 1/13 | Tlingit language guide, copy of Indian claims commission act, and transcripts of Land Task Force Drafting Committee meetings | undated, 1967 December 6-8 |
| 1/14 | AFN correspondence, notes grant proposal, directory, and clippings | 1968-1969 |
| 1/15 | Meeting notes | 1968 June 26 |
| 1/16 | Newspaper clippings | 1968 May-June |
| 1/17, Server | Audiocassette tape, “Jan.23, 1972 Cook Inlet Region.” Recording of meeting. [Digitized] | 1972 January 23 |