I guess the first thing I would like to add in here is that one of the real heroes in the Native American community has passed away. I am talking about Eloise Cobell. She led a 16-year  legal fight to get the federal government to pay an estimated 500,000 Native Americans for mismanaging their trust accounts. She suffered from cancer.

Also, and this is in the area of movies, I would like to make a recommendation for any readers that might happen by here. I watched a movie called Janie Jones and it was great. I recommend it without reservation.

More to come, I hope.

I do not agree with hardly any of President Obama’s positions but in this case both he and Congress made the right decision. It is long overdue. My best wishes to the tribes and individuals that will be positively affected.

http://cobellsettlement.com/class/ask_elouise.php

It is our hopes that Congress will pass the enabling legislation and the process can move forward.

For all my criticisms of the Obama administration they have made an effort here to clear up one of the festering wounds in the relations between the Native Americans and the federal government. I just wish the amount settled on was much closer to the real damage done to the tribes. We can send billions overseas but we can’t do right by the poorest and most under represented population in this country. Now Congress has to do the right thing and clear this settlement out fast.

Congratulations to Ms. Cobell and God bless you.

So much for the Obama administration providing “hope and change” in Federal-Native American relations. It’s the “same old, same old” all over again. The government could settle this in a heartbeat by offering a fair settlement to the plaintiffs but, and this is the third administration that has been dealing with this, the only attitude is to stonewall and offer nothing. Let’s hope the Court of Appeals does the right thing.

In an ominous note regarding the case, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys, Mark Levy, committed suicide by gunshot just a few days ago. I hope there will be an investigation of this.

Here isthe Indian Trust website: http://www.indiantrust.com/

The above quote is from my.barackobama.com/page/content/firstamissues#sovereignty

If the president is really serious about keeping that promise he could very well start by settling the Cobell vs. Salazar case that is still in its agonizing 13 year journey through the federal court system. Despite statements that he wanted to settle the case President Obama’s new secretary of the interior, Ken Salazar, is now backtracking and saying that he has to wait for the outcome of the court of appeals hearing scheduled in May. What a bunch of baloney! If the administration wanted to settle it could do so tomorrow by contacting the plaintiff and arriving at an agreement. A radical change for the better in how the government deals with Native Americans would be a good thing and a good way to start would be for the administration to do the right thing in this case. I don’t think it will happen though but there is still hope.

Two more last comments. This administration and previous administrations have absolutely no problem with giving away billions to other countries, much of which goes into the hands of corrupt and greedy officials with no sense of social conscience for their own people. Billions more have been funneled to foreign banks by means of the recent bailouts. Is it so hard to do the right thing by the remnants of the First Nations of this country?? And, considering the treatment given to the Arapahos and the Cheyennes by the State of Colorado, it would be nice if Secretary Salazar, who is a former Senator from Colorado, could make a step towards wiping that blot out by sitting down and coming to an equitable agreement with the plaintiff.