The Chugach is a Native corporation in Alaska, in the vicinity of Nanwalek and Prince William Sound. The group went bankrupt in 1991, as a result of bad luck in various investments, a fallout in the timber industry, a salmon glut, a fire at its Orca cannery, and the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill's impact on the local herring population. Circa 1950 the average life expectancy for the Chugach was 38 years (1 -- p.107). In 1964, a tsunami destroyed the Chugach village of Chenega. In 1969, British Petroleum acquired the Valdez oil terminal, from the Chugach, for one dollar. Some natives contend that this was an illegal transfer.
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