by Editorial
Portland Oregonian
The Interior Department is trying to account for the missing Indian trust
fund accounts that make up for $500 million-a-year royalties from
Indian-owned land (“Tribes blast Norton’s plan to fix bungled trust funds,”
Feb. 15). Many relevant documents have been destroyed.
A lot of it parallels what happened at Enron: a bunch of bigwigs defrauding
people who have trusted them with their money. But this is of far more
concern than the Enron scandal. In this case, our very own government, not a
corporation, either lost, stole or misappropriated billions of dollars.
It continues the long, weary relationship between the United States and many
of the 300 tribes, which because of a federal law in 1887, put the land they
owned in trust funds, so it wouldn’t be taxed or sold or leased without the
government’s approval.
But nearly 120 years later, with a complete bureaucratic mess made by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, the results have been billions of dollars that
can’t be accounted for.
Where is the outrage? Where is the call for a huge congressional
investigation? Obviously not many Americans seem to care when it comes to
Native American issues. It’s like a dirty, guilty feeling swept under the
rug.
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