Denver Post Washington Bureau
The Denver Post
WASHINGTON – More Indian trust records have been discovered to be missing, according to a special court official charged with investigating the previous disappearance of other government records in a massive lawsuit against the Interior Department.
Some 160 boxes of materials believed related to trust accounts recently were destroyed at the Bu reau of Indian Affairs’ Northern Cheyenne office in Montana, according to a letter from special court master Alan L. Balaran.
His letter was posted Tuesday on a website maintained by a group of American Indians who have challenged the government’s handling of the trust accounts.
Stephanie Hanna, an Interior Department spokeswoman, confirmed the destruction, but said officials were attempting to determine whether they related to the lawsuit over the department’s handling of the trust accounts. She said the matter was under investigation.
The Indian plaintiffs have won a court judgment faulting the government’s handling of the accounts, but the issue is on appeal. At stake is the government’s handling of thousands of trust accounts it has managed for decades for Indians.
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