ending March 30
Makah whale hunt in May 1999.
File photo AP.
After three months of a court-induced computer shutdown, the Department of Interior is finally resuming some sense of normalcy. But when it comes to the trust fund, nothing is as it seems. Department officials received permission to operate a system critical to the delivery of payments to Indian beneficiaries but had no answers this week how they will reconcile the proper accounts. And with a contempt ruling pending and motions for additional sanctions on the horizon, look for things to heat up in the next few weeks. Get the Story:
Key trust fund system being restarted (3/25)
The injustice of the trust fund (3/25)
Trust officials could get extra funds (3/26)
Trust fund subject of law school talk (3/27)
Cobell to get honorary degree (3/28) Bush pushes cases before Supreme Court
So far, so good, say tribal leaders and their advocates on the Supreme Court's refusal to take any Indian law cases this term. Fearing a repeat of years prior, they hope the Nine Justices don't get a chance to reverse positive rulings. If the Bush administration has its way, those fears will be realized. The Department of Justice has asked the nation's highest court to reverse two rulings affecting the federal government's trust responsibility. In one case, the Navajo Nation's $600 million claim for an unfavorable lease is at stake while the White Mountain Apache Tribe's crumbling school and other facilities are at risk in an another. Speaking with unanimity, as the Court did this week in an unrelated case and often does on Indian law, these decisions could change the criteria used to establish breaches of trust. Get the Story:
Bush wants Navajo ruling reversed (3/27)
One-strike policy against drugs upheld (3/27)
Leave no Apache school behind (3/29) more stories
There's still more to read in the recap of the top stories.