OST connects Indian beneficiaries with $1M

Friday, May 11, 2007  

An Office of Special Trustee agency on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota has connected 266 Indian beneficiaries with more than $1 million of their money.

The Fort Berthold Agency Office has only been up and running since November 2005. But it's been a leader in the nation and in its region for resolving "Whereabouts Unknown" accounts and for locating Indian beneficiaries.

Leading the effort is fiduciary trust officer Austin Gillette, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. He and his three employees oversee more than 4,000 trust accounts.

Gillette says he hopes to reduce the number of Whereabouts Unknown to "zero" but notes that the list keeps growing. He's found account holders as far away as Alaska.

Get the Story:
Fort Berthold OST tracks down lost account holders (The Minot Daily News 5/11)

Relevant Links:
Office of Special Trustee - http://www.doi.gov/ost
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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