Editorial: Norton should be rid of trust

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002

"A federal judge last week rightfully criticized the Interior Secretary Gale Norton for failing to fix a shameful system that has deprived Native Americans of billions of dollars.

But while the judge was right to rebuke Norton in unusually harsh language, he shouldn't have stopped there. Norton's predecessors going back more than a century are just as culpable, as are many other employees of the federal government.

It is time to give up on government management of this trust and turn it over to financial specialists who specialize in such matters. Congress should pay a private outfit to do its best to unsnarl this tangle.

Then Native American nations should be allowed to manage their own trusts or decide who would do so."

Get the Story:
Our Opinion: A disgraceful mishandling of Indian assets (The Tucson Citizen 9/24)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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DOI claims a partial accounting (9/25)
Editorial: Strip Norton of trust (9/25)
The Indian Enron and other editorials (9/25)
Editorial: Norton's failure is 'disgrace' (9/24)
Norton chided on Cobell 'accounting' (9/23)
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Tiny praise for Norton on trust (9/23)
Editorial: Norton's 'shameful' behavior (9/23)
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Norton's denials ring hollow (9/20)
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