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Norton drops bomb on Indian Country
Admitting her department cannot fix the broken
trust fund unless it makes drastic changes, Secretary of
Interior Gale Norton this week
announced plans to strip the Bureau of Indian Affairs
of the duties it has provided to tribes for more
than one hundred years.
Fashioned as a response to a class action lawsuit that
has been an embarrassment for the Bush administration,
the proposal immediately incurred the wrath of
a number of tribal leaders throughout Indian Country.
They immediately blasted the reorganization and
vowed to do what they can to stop it by
calling on Congress and possibly even the courts
for help.
Get the Story: Norton takes
action on trust (11/15) Gover:
Tribal voice now 'weaker' (11/15) Interior
might need year on new agency (11/15) Objections
voiced over trust fund choice (11/15) Norton
stripping BIA of trust duties (11/16) Tribal
leaders in uproar over proposal (11/16) Norton's
'runaway train' denounced (11/17) Bush
officials to speak at NCAI (11/16) Top Democrat
calls for hearings (11/16) Q&A on
BIA Reorganization (11/16)
Norton seeks way out of contempt
Secretary of Interior's standing with Indian Country
isn't her only problem. She also has to
convince an already critical federal judge
not to hold her in contempt for her handling of
the trust fund.
So this week, her lawyers told U.S. District
Judge Royce Lamberth she shouldn't be sanctioned
for failing to distribute a court order as quickly
as a court investigator would have liked.
Without providing specific dates or evidence
to challenge much of special master Alan Balaran's findings,
her defense team said 11,000 of her employees
have been fully informed they won't be
sent home, fired or otherwise retaliated against if they criticize her.
Get the Story: Interior mum
on trust fund report (11/13) EDS Report:
Trust fund recommendations (11/13) Trust fund
security document filed (11/14) Norton
challenges contempt charges (11/15)
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