"So, Ross Swimmer, the Special Trustee for American Indians, is once again telling Native Americans not to worry. The Bush administration is making marvelous improvements to the long-troubled Indian trust system run by the Interior Department, he says.
Any improvements are long overdue and surely will be welcomed. Congress ordered a revamping of the trust system in 1994, 11 years ago.
But Swimmer is ignoring the big picture and misleading trust beneficiaries in the process.
Consider this. One of those "whereabouts unknown" accounts happened to belong to the husband of Elousie Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the Cobell vs. Norton lawsuit over trust accounts. You'd think after nearly 10 years in the courts, spending more than $100 million in taxpayer funds to fight Elousie Cobell, there would be someone in the Interior Department who would recognize the Cobell name. It shouldn't have taken a task force of federal workers to have discovered another Cobell."
Get the Story:
Cobell plaintiffs: Swimmer is 'ignoring the big picture'
(The Native American Times 8/5)
Cobell plaintiffs: Swimmer is 'ignoring the big picture' (Cobell 8/5)
Special Trustee touts trust improvements (The Native American Times 8/4)
Senate Testimony:
Hearing
on S. 1439, Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005 (July 26, 2005)
Additional Testimony:
Sen.
McCain Statement | Ernie
Stensgar | Hoopa Valley
Tribe | Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe
S.1439 Documents:
John McCain
Statement | Byron Dorgan Statement | Full Text of Bill as Introduced | S.1439
Relevant Documents:
Trust
Reform and Cobell Settlement Workgroup Principles for Legislation (June
2005)
Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell
v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
National
Congress of American Indians - http://www.ncai.org
Intertribal
Trust Fund Monitoring Association - http://www.itmatrustfunds.org
Related Stories:
Resolution of Cobell v. Norton appears far away
(8/5)
Editorial: McCain and
Dorgan should fix trust bill (8/4)
Much
work needed on Cobell, trust reform bill (8/1)
Editorial: Settlement of trust fund case at hand
(8/1)
Appeals court stays Lamberth order
on notices (7/29)
DOI mum on settlement
figure for Cobell v. Norton (7/27)
Cobell apologizes for comments on trust bill
(7/27)
Opinion: McCain, Dorgan lowball
Indians on trust (7/27)
Indian leaders
to pledge support on trust reform (7/26)
Cobell calls trust reform bill a win for Interior
(7/22)
McCain and Dorgan introduce trust
reform legislation (7/22)
Opinion: Keep
open mind on Cobell settlement (7/19)
McCain plans hearing on Cobell settlement, reform
(7/14)
Judge blasts Interior on handling
of trust (7/13)
Elouise Cobell:
Principles put trust back into trust fund (07/07)
Cobell and Cason to appear on C-SPAN program
(7/6)
Cobell calls for settlement of
trust fund lawsuit (7/5)
Editorial:
Resolution of trust fund debacle needed (7/5)
Editorial: Abramoff scandal can't compare to trust
(6/30)
Opinion: Downfall of Indians
traced to Army, BIA (6/28)
Pombo
supports settlement of Cobell trust fund case (6/27)
Harjo: Tribes lobby to fleece their own people
(6/24)
Editorial: Congress should settle
trust fund (6/24)
Editorial: Trust fund
a 'national embarassment' (6/22)
Indian
Country united on trust reform solutions (6/21)
Trust workgroup to outline Cobell settlement goals
(6/17)
Echohawk optimistic on settlement
of Cobell case (06/03)
Final trust
reform meeting held in North Dakota (6/3)
UTTC hosts meeting on trust reform legislation
(6/1)
House panel acts to restore Bush budget
cuts (05/05)
NCAI and ITMA hold second
trust reform meeting (05/04)
Bush
administration won't give up fight on Cobell (03/18)
McCain weighs GAO probe of Indian trust debacle
(03/10)
McCain lays out Indian agenda for
109th Congress (3/7)
Norton won't testify
on trust fund retaliation (2/28)
Bush
official won't accept claims of trust mismanagement (02/17)
Appeals court won't hold back Lamberth on trust
reform (12/13)
Appeals court supports
Lamberth's authority on IT (12/06)
Lamberth critical of Norton's 'bad faith' on trust
fund (10/25)
Interior denies attempt to
halt trust fund payments (10/05)
Bush
administration challenges trust fund ruling (09/16)
Appeals court takes on Cobell trust fund case
(9/15)
Lamberth exchanges harsh words
with Cobell critic (08/02)
Bush
administration calls for end to Cobell case (04/09)
Cobell trust fund suit mediators announced
(4/6)
DOI's Internet connection shut
down for third time (03/16)
Lamberth
defends special master against attack (03/16)
Anderson praises Cobell suit in NCAI speech
(2/25)
Tribes still frustrated on
trust reform (11/20)
Bush officials
blasted by tribal leaders (11/19)
Cobell plaintiffs disputing trust fund rider
(11/17)
Daschle criticizes
'shameful' rider in DOI budget bill (11/04)
Norton welcomes time-out in Cobell trust fund
case (11/4)
Bush official
balks at large settlement for Cobell (7/10)
Cobell Letter: Ross Swimmer can't tell the truth
Monday, August 8, 2005
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'