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: 1.0 cubic feet and 1.03 GB.
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 and Elva Peratrovich) 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, an audiocassette recording of a meeting about the formation of Cook Inlet Regional, Inc., and an audiocassette recording of Emil Notti briefly explaining the formation of the AFN. 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, Emil Notti, 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: This collection has been digitized. 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. Lyon gifted an addition to the collection in 2026.
Processing information: This collection was described by Luna V. De La Rosa in 2025. Becky Butler Gallegos processed the 2026 addition in 2026. Metal fasteners were removed. Materials in envelopes were removed. Newspaper clippings and duplicates were removed. Folder titles in brackets are provided by the processors.
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 and 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, likely written by Elva Naanes and Virginia Kirby] | 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 and 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 tapes: 1) “Jan.23, 1972 Cook Inlet Region.” Recording of meeting; 2) “Emil Notti. Emil Notti Informal Talk on Forming of AFN. Made June 70.” Digitized] | 1970 June, 1972 January 23 |
| 1/18 | [AFN board of directors meeting note; Primarily in shorthand] | 1967 September 8 |
| 1/19 | [AFN annual convention and meeting notes; Primarily in shorthand] | 1967 October 19-21 |
| 1/20 | [AFN board of directors and Land Task Force meeting notes; Primarily in shorthand] | 1967 November 20-21 |
| 1/21 | AFN [Photographs of a meeting] | undated |
| 1/22 | Elva Naanes Hearings Feb. 8, 9, + 10, 1968 Senate Interior + Insular Affairs Committee [Alaska Native Land Claims newspaper clippings, schedule of testimonies, and correspondence] | 1967 December- 1968 March |
| 1/23 | Clippings – Oil Minerals | 1967 January- 1968 March |
| 1/24 | AFN – List of Meetings [and meeting reports] | 1966-1968 |
| 1/25 | [AFN annual meeting report and resolutions] | 1967 October 19-21 |
| 1/26 | AFN Financial Reports [and Corliss’ letter of resignation] | 1967-1968 |
| 1/27 | AFN Meeting May 24, 1968 [Meeting minutes and notes; some in shorthand] | 1968 May 24 |
| 1/28 | AFN Meeting April 8, 9, 1967 [Meeting minutes] | 1967 April 8-9 |
| 1/29 | AFN – Meeting June 25, 1967 [Meeting minutes, notes, correspondence, press releases, and Emil Notti speech] | 1967 June 23-25 |
| 1/30 | AFN B of D Meeting April 27 + 28, 1968 [Board of directors’ motions and correspondence] | 1968 April 15, 28 |
| 1/31 | Land Task Force Meeting 2-10-68 [Meeting minutes] | 1968 February 10 |
| 1/32 | AFN Board of Directors Meeting 2-10-68 [Meeting minutes] | 1968 February 10 |
| 1/33 | BIA Loan [Application for a Bureau of Indian Affairs loan] | 1968 May 28 |