Cobell vs. Salazar

Finally there may be an end to the longstanding struggles of Native Americans to gain a little bit of justice for what they have suffered at the hands of the government. I am referring decades old Cobell lawsuit against the Department of the Interior.  Congress passed the enabling legislation and President Obama signed it just [...] [...]

Cobell vs. Salazar

Finally! Looks like there might be a resolution to the lawsuit filed so many years ago by Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet tribe against the US Department of the Interior. The lawsuit claimed that the federal government mismanaged individual Indians’ trust accounts and had been doing so for around a hundred years. For more and [...] [...]

Cobell vs. Salazar

The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held an hour long hearing today in the appeal of trial judge Robinson’s ruling in the case of the over 100 year’s of mismanagement of the Indian Trust Fund. Even after Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s statements that he would [...] [...]

Another Promise To Indians on The Way To Being Broken?

“Honor the Trust Responsibility: Barack Obama recognizes that honoring the government-to-government relationship requires fulfillment of the United States’ trust responsibility to tribes and individual Indians. More specifically, Obama is committed to meaningful reform of the broken system that manages and administers the trust lands and other trust assets belonging to tribes and individual Indians. Further, [...] [...]

Update on Cobell vs. Kempthorne

The plaintiffs in the case have decided to appeal Judge Robinson’s ruling. The judge has agreed to enter a written order next week that will allow a prompt appeal of his latest rulings in the class action suit over the government’s mismanagement of the Indian Trust Funds. Go here for the latest. I wish the plaintiffs [...] [...]

Indian Trust Money #3

We left off in 1999. Clinton was still president and the tribes had given him lots of campaign contributions. Looks like he would have helped them out but…..well, usual story of broken faith. Things just continued in this vein. In 2001 the Court of Appeals ruled that the Department of the Interior’s malfeasance justified court [...] [...]

Indian Trust Money #2

In 1994 Congrees passed the Indian Trust Management Reform Act of 1994. It laid the burden on the Secretary of the Interior “to account for the daily and annual balances of all funds held in trust by the United States for the benefit of an Indian tribe or an individual Indian that are deposited or [...] [...]

Indian Trust Money

Preface In all of the following posts about the problem of Indian Trust Monies I have gotten much information, used some direct quotes and paraphrased others from the following web site: <http://www.indiantrust.com/index.cfm>. I encourage all to visit the site. I don’t think you can read it without getting quite angry. I have been needing to write about [...] [...]