"Once Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's nomination as the next secretary of the interior survives a couple of showboat attempts to block it, he'll inherit one of the federal government's longest-running headaches.

That would be a lawsuit filed in 1996 by the Native American Rights Fund, demanding an accounting for more than a century's worth of federal mismanagement of tribal trust funds.

The Indians claim they were cheated out of $100 billion, but have offered to settle for $27.5 billion. That may be a bargain. The Indians may be owed a century's worth of grazing rents, oil and gas royalties and timber sales from the land, plus interest.

Various attempts at the accounting have stumbled through lost or destroyed records and delay after delay by the Department of Interior that Kempthorne will soon head."

Get the Story:
Editorial: New interior secretary should settle with Indians (The Yakima Herald-Republic 5/16)

Judge Lamberth Rulings
Trust Fund Notices (July 12, 2005) | Internet Shutdown (October 20, 2005)

Indian Trust Reform Act:
S.1439 | H.R.4322

Relevant Documents:
Trust Reform and Cobell Settlement Workgroup Principles for Legislation (June 2005)

Relevant Links:
National Congress of American Indians - http://www.ncai.org
Intertribal Trust Fund Monitoring Association - http://www.itmatrustfunds.org
Indian Land Working Group - http://www.ilwg.net
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Senate Indian Affairs Committee - http://indian.senate.gov

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