by Robert Gehrke
Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) _ It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take
sweeping changes to fix a system of American Indian royalties mismanaged
by the government for more than 100 years, Interior Secretary Gale
Norton told members of Congress on Wednesday.
Despite opposition from Indian leaders to changes Norton has proposed,
and skepticism from some members of the House Resources Committee,
Norton said she is optimistic she can work with tribes and Congress to
manage the Indian money better.
Committee members, however, clearly were frustrated at how long the
trust overhaul has taken.
Reports dating from 1928 identified problems in trust fund accounting.
In 1994 Congress created the Office of Special Trustee to oversee repair
of the system and has spent $614 million since then on changing it.
Special trustee Thomas Slonaker said Wednesday that major accounting and
data problems still have not been solved.
“It’s very, very hard for me to be optimistic. I believe the Native
Americans have put up with this charade long enough,’ said Rep. Elton
Gallegly, R-Calif. He said if Norton can’t fix the system, Congress
should do the job.
The Indian trust funds were created in 1887, when Congress assigned
Indians small allotments of land. Interior was assigned to manage the
grazing, timber and oil and gas rights, but much of the money was stolen
or misappropriated.
In 1996, Elouise Cobell, a Montana banker and member of the Blackfeet
Nation, and four others sued the government for squandering the money.
In 1999, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Interior to overhaul
the trust and piece together how much the Indians are owed.
The judge also is holding a hearing to decide if Norton should be held
in contempt for not fixing the system and misrepresenting reform
efforts.
Under threat of contempt, Norton proposed sweeping changes last
November, pushing for creation of a new bureau in the Interior
Department to manage the trust fund over opposition from Indian leaders.
Norton is working with a group of tribal representatives and said she
hopes an agreement can be reached.
She also acknowledged the difficulties in fixing the system and said the
department’s computerized accounting system has failed to meet its
objectives, she said. A congressional report said last year the $40
million-plus system may have to be scrapped.
Adding adequate computer security will cost up to $70 million over the
next three years, Norton said. Security holes prompted Lamberth to pull
the plug on the Interior Department’s Internet connections on Dec. 5,
2001, in order to protect the $500 million account from hackers.
Ninety percent of the department remains off-line, and most Indians who
rely on royalty payments haven’t seen checks since November.
Piecing together how much Indian money has been lost since 1887 will
cost hundreds of millions of dollars and cannot be done completely since
records have been destroyed by fire or decayed over time, Norton said.
“If you can’t provide a historical accounting, don’t pretend that you
can,’ said Cobell. She asked the committee to wipe out the department’s
budget to fight the lawsuit and support assigning oversight of the fund
to someone outside of the department.
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