"The Register-Guard's editorial said that the past two administrations have frustrated efforts to resolve this case. If the editors look at public court records, they will understand that this lawsuit is not about mismanagement, or even reparations.

It was filed simply to find out how the funds that came into the trust were disbursed to the beneficiaries, and to provide those beneficiaries with statements of their accounts. Reports to the court, available online, will show that for a number of years we have been working on this accounting. It is a massive process and simply cannot be done quickly.

History, and the federal government, have not been kind to the American Indian. Today, poverty, disease, crime and subpar education exist throughout Indian Country. All of these issues need more attention from the people, Congress and tribal, state and federal governments.

But it is not appropriate to lump the Indian trust situation into those. It turns out that the good people who worked in the Bureau of Indian Affairs - the majority of whom were American Indian - did their best to distribute funds to individual Indian account holders, and did, in good faith, retain records."

Get the Story:
Ross Swimmer: Indian trust difficulties overstated (The Eugene Register-Guard 3/28)

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

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