Mostly praise for $3.4B settlement to Cobell lawsuit

Cobell

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Reaction from Indian Country to the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement has been mostly positive.

The deal provides $1.412 billion to the plaintiffs in the long-running suit. Each account holder -- a number estimated to be as high as 500,000 -- will receive a $1,000 check. Some will receive more money based on the activity that occurred on their land.

The settlement also provides $2 billion to pay account holders for their fractionated land interests. The money will be spent over a 10-year period and any land acquired through the program will be returned to tribal governments.

To provide an incentive for account holders to sell their interests, the settlement creates an Indian scholarship fund. Every time an interest is acquired, the Interior Department will deposit money in the fund for a total amount of $60 million.

"This is the first time I’ve seen someone take Native American issues and bring them to the forefront,” Roger Running Crane of the Blackfeet Nation council told KFBB-TV.

“I’m glad because the people have been waiting so long,” added Blackfeet elder Al Potts. "I didn't think I would live to the day when I'd see this but it's happened and I'm overjoyed," Verna St. Goddard, another Blackfeet elder, told The Great Falls Tribune.

"This has been a long journey for Cobell team and the DOI attorneys to negotiate this agreement," Navajo Nation Vice President Ben Shelly said in a statement to The Farmington Daily Times. "I just hope it's a fair amount for the individual Navajos affected by settlement and help(s) resolve the tribe's own lawsuit regarding mismanagement of funds."

But some don't believe the money is enough. Legislation that was proposed in 2006 but never moved forward put a settlement figure at $8 billion.

"I figured that would be life-changing for many people entitled to the money," Oglala Sioux Tribe council member Craig Dillon told The Sioux Falls Argus Leader. "But $1.4 billion is a drop in the bucket, and there are a lot of buckets."

The settlement requires Congressional and judicial approval. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar hopes Congress will take action by the end of the year. Action in federal court will take several months, he said.

Individual Indians who aren't happy with the settlement can opt out and continue to press their claims in court.