Claim seeks compensation for land and trusts
by Chris Casteel
The Oklahoman
WASHINGTON – Combatants in the dispute over Indian trust money will head to Capitol Hill again this week, as lawmakers continue to press for a resolution to the long-running lawsuit.
While hopeful that Congress will eventually play a meaningful role, an attorney for the Indians in the class-action suit said the talk so far hasn’t translated into action.
“It’s just hearing after hearing after hearing and not a whole lot happens,” said Keith Harper, an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund.
Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Resources Committee have introduced legislation similar to a bill authored in the Senate that could serve as a blueprint for a settlement. But it is missing the magic number — a settlement offer from the government.
During the summer, some of the Indian plaintiffs in the case, led by Elouise Cobell, laid out their 50 principles for a fair settlement and said they would accept $27.5 billion . The number was rejected by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee.
The House Resources Committee, which has held numerous hearings on the Indian trust case, has scheduled another for Thursday to discuss a settlement.
Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman of the committee, said of his legislation, “As the committee moves this bill through the process, works with members of Congress and conducts ongoing discussions with Indian Country, we hope to shape this into the most equitable solution for all parties.”
Auditing the accounts
The lawsuit was filed in 1996 in federal district court by Cobell, of Montana, who is a member of the Blackfeet Tribe, and other Indian plaintiffs.
The suit claimed the government failed to meet its legal obligation in managing thousands of individual Indian trust accounts that hold the proceeds from leases on Indian land for drilling, grazing and other uses. The trust system dates to 1887.
A U.S. district judge agreed with the Indians and ordered reforms. He told the Interior Department it must do a detailed recreation of tens of thousands of accounts dating back scores of years.
Last month, the judge’s order regarding the “historical accounting” was overturned by a federal appeals court here, which means a major aspect of the case — how much money should be in the accounts — is still being contested more than nine years after the case was filed. There are other issues being fought vigorously as well, including the security of the Interior Department’s computers holding trust account information.
Harper, part of the legal team for the Indians, said the court case could last at least another two years and any final decision would likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Interior Department has spent more than $100 million trying to determine how much money should be in the individual trust accounts — many of which have been so divided through the years that they contain miniscule sums — and estimates the auditing method it is using could cost nearly $350 million to complete.
The plaintiffs, citing the loss of millions of documents through the years, say it is impossible to determine how much each of the accounts should hold.
A settlement dictated by Congress could conceivably end the need for a historical accounting, but the parties don’t appear to be close to an agreement.
Harper said the administration has yet to propose a settlement offer.
He acknowledged that Congress would ultimately have to approve any settlement put in legislation, but said, “I don’t think Congress is the obstacle here.”
The administration has yet to take a position on the Senate bill, introduced last summer, or the similar House legislation. Cobell has been critical of the Senate bill.
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