This is report card on the manner in which the Bureau of Indian Affairs have managed the Cobell settlement since it was approved in November 2011. Case in point, the second round of the Cobell payments were scheduled for August or September 2013. Now the date has changed to early spring 2014 and most likely March 2014.

The problem with this is that the Trustee Bank will earn more interest off of the deposit and it won’t probably be distributed to the Indian account owners. It looks like a ploy for the Trustee to earn more money. All the while Indian folks are going into winter and need their money to pay for heating costs and Christmas.

I have said since the beginning this was a bad deal. I stand by my opinion that the Settlement was not good for Indian Country. Some gained but many lost.

Individual Indians are going to lose in the end. My article, “Interior Annouces Cobell Settlement Is Final—Enjoy the Moment!,” stated my thoughts about the settlement. I said this would happen and it is happening.