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MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2002

Secretary of Interior Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb are "deluding themselves" if they think tribes are going to buy into their plan to create an Indian trust agency, The Sioux Falls Argus Leader says today in an editorial.

The paper points out that tribes have repeatedly blasted the creation of the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management, to be headed by its own assistant secretary. Part of the dispute, the paper says, is that tribal leaders were left out of the process from the start.

"If there's one main problem with white-Native American relations during the years we've been a nation, it's just this: Whites always think they know what's best for Indians," the paper states.

Another part, the paper says, is the appointment of Ross Swimmer to head the transition to the agency. "This is the same Swimmer who lost millions of dollars in coal revenue for the Navahos through an unfair agreement he negotiated," the paper writes.

"This is the same Ross Swimmer who destroyed a Cherokee Nation corporation by making bad loans to corporation members."

Get the Story:
Tribes capable of managing own trust funds (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 1/21)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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