Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, at a May 21, 2014, hearing. Photo from Flickr

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) welcomed a federal judge's decision to distribute the final payment in the $3.4 billion Cobell trust fund settlement.

As chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Tester had been pushing the Obama administration and the Garden City Group -- the firm that was appointed by the court to administer the settlement -- to expedite the payments. He said Indian beneficiaries waited far too long to receive their money.

“This is welcome news for Indian Country. I am very pleased that payments will finally be made to tribal citizens who have waited decades for justice. The delay for hundreds of thousands of Native Americans was unacceptable, but folks will finally receive the restitution promised them,” Tester said in a statement yesterday.

The Garden City Group is expected to put the checks in the mail starting on Monday. They should take 5 to 7 days to reach beneficiaries once that happens.

The payment covers the Trust Administration Class of the settlement. The checks total nearly $941.6 million, according to a motion that was filed in federal court on Wednesday.

Each member of the class will receive a base payment of $869. But many will receive more, depending on the level of activity in his or her Individual Indian Money (IIM) account.

At least one person will receive about $10 million, according to a May report from the Associated Press.

The late Elouise Cobell, who was a member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana, reached the settlement in December 2009. President Barack Obama signed it into law in December 2010, after it was approved by Congress through a bill known as H.R.4783, the Claims Settlement Act of 2010.

Judge Thomas F. Hogan approved the settlement in June 2011, after hearing from critics at a fairness hearing. Cobell was unable to attend because she had been undergoing cancer treatment so she addressed the court by phone from her home in Montana.

"What has been accomplished here is historic and unprecedented – a $3.4 billion settlement – with $1.5 billion distributed directly to individual Indians and $1.9 billion to address fractionation – a necessary investment for improving future management," Cobell said at the time.

Despite Hogan's approval, appeals from opponents held up the settlement. Cobell passed away on October 16, 2011, and never got to see it finalized.

The federal courts eventually upheld the settlement and the first payment, covering the Historical Accounting Class, went out on December 2012. Every eligible beneficiary received a $1,000 check.

The second payment for the Trust Administration Class turned out to be a much more complex affair. It took several more months -- well into the summer of 2013 -- for the members to be determined but appeals from people who believed they should be included delayed the process for much longer than anticipated.

After the 2013 holiday season came and went without checks, Indian beneficiaries began to complain more loudly. Finally, in May, Judge Hogan authorized the checks to be distributed while the class determinations continued.

But his order didn't speed up the process. The Cobell legal team and the Garden City Group both pointed fingers at the Interior Department as Tester and other members of Congress began to question the delays.

"DOI's calculations depend on information only available to DOI," Jennifer Keough, the chief operating officer for the Garden City Group, told Tester's committee at a hearing in July.

DOI finally provided the calculations to the Garden City Group by August 30. The information was verified a few days later, prompting the flurry of activity this week to get the checks approved.

Related Stories:
Judge approves motion to distribute Cobell settlement payment (9/11)
Native Sun News: Final Cobell payment might 'almost' be ready (9/11)
Final payments from Cobell settlement closer to being distributed (09/04)
Tim Giago: Greedy lawyers and government ruin Cobell settlement (08/27)
Still no word on Cobell payments as end of August approaches (08/20)