"Fourteen years ago, Elouise Cobell of Browning, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, sued the U.S. government on behalf of hundreds of thousands of American Indians who believed that the Interior Department mismanaged royalty payments to their land trust accounts.

The lawsuit’s tortured path moved closer to a resolution in December when a $3.4 billion settlement was announced. But now, after years of litigation, an unfortunate legislative snag has delayed action.

After May approval in the U.S. House, the settlement is now hung up in the U.S. Senate, where Republicans used a filibuster to scuttle the Democrats’ jobs-agenda legislation to which the Cobell settlement was attached.

“It’s a feeling like you’re walking on a cloud and you don’t know when you’re going to fall,” Cobell said last Friday. “I had such anticipation that the Senate was going to do the right thing.”

“I think the cloud fell last night. I realized just how vulnerable you are when you have to have your life determined by politicians.”

The settlement requires congressional approval and the blessing of a federal judge before it becomes final."

Get the Story:
Gazette opinion: Time has come to approve Cobell settlement (The Billings Gazette 7/2)

Cobell Settlement Documents:
Agreement | Press Release | Q&A | Audio

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