Washington, December 09: The US government agreed on Tuesday to pay 1.4 billion dollars to settle long-running claims it mismanaged land and money it held in trust for hundreds of thousands of Native Americans.
President Barack Obama praised the settlement as “an important step towards a sincere reconciliation” between the federal government and some 300,000 beneficiaries of the lawsuits.
The agreement must be approved by the US Congress and the US district court of the District of Columbia, but if confirmed it would conclude a bitter class action lawsuit first brought in 1996 by Elouise Cobell.
The suit claims the federal government mismanaged “acres of land and millions of dollars” under 19th century laws that divided up Indian lands into small parcels held in trust for individual native Americans.
“Between the accounting claims and the trust administration claims, the plaintiff class will receive approximately 1.4 billion dollars,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.
The government will also establish a two billion dollar fund to pay for the consolidation of the land under tribal ownership by paying off, on a voluntary basis, the several hundred thousand Indians with interests in the land.
In addition, it will set up a 60 million dollar scholarship fund for native American students.
Under the 1887 Dawes Act, tribal lands were broken up into parcels of between 40 and 160 acres and allotted to individual native Americans in what proved a failed attempt to encourage assimilation.
Held in trust by the US government, the land was passed to successive generations of heirs meaning some “fractionated” parcels now have thousands of owners.
Thirteen years in litigation, Cobell vs Salazar is one of the largest class action suits ever brought against the US government.
It “has been the subject of intense, and sometimes difficult, litigation,” Holder said. “But today, we turn the page.”
“The United States could have continued to litigate this case, at great expense to the taxpayers. It could have let all of these claims linger, and could even have let the problem of fractionated land continue to grow with each generation.
“But with this settlement, we are erasing these past liabilities and getting on track to eliminate them going forward,” he said.
The US Congress must pass legislation authorizing implementation of the settlement and the court handling the case must formally endorse it, officials said.
Obama urged Congress “to act swiftly to correct this long-standing injustice.”
“As a candidate, I heard from many in Indian Country that the Cobell suit remained a stain on the nation to nation relationship I value so much,” he said. “I pledged my commitment to resolving this issue, and I am proud that my administration has taken this step today.”
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, whose department manages some 56 million acres in tribal trust lands and 3.5 billion dollars in trust funds, said the settlement would allow the government to “address the educational, law enforcement, and economic development challenges we face in Indian country.”
Cobell, the banker who first brought the case, told the Indian Country Today newspaper she was relieved by the deal.
“Today we have an administration that is listening to us,” she said.
But, in comments that indicated why the battle has been so hard fought for so long, she added she had “no doubt” the settlement award was “significantly less than the full accounting to which the class members are entitled.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs at one point suggested a figure of 47 billion dollars.
–Agencies