Bismarck, ND – It's been called the most important issue in Indian Country.
Tribal officials from around the country met in Bismarck to provide recommendations to Congress on legislation to settle what has been called the Cobell lawsuit the largest Indian class-action lawsuit in the U-S and reform current trust systems.
A tribal workgroup formed from the National Congress of American Indians and the Intertribal Monitoring Association gathered at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck to draft principles for Senator Byron Dorgan and Senator John McCain's legislation that would settle the lawsuit in which 500-thousand Indian plaintiffs and account holders are suing for their trust funds that date back to the 1887 Allotment Act. The workgroup is also discussing trust system reform. N-C-A-I President Tex Hall says the trust management system is broken because Indian probates and land titles take eight years to be settled Hall says the U-S Government needs to be accountable
The closest thing I can get for an example is Enron. When Enron, Worldcom, Telcom, and all these corporations when the CEOs were stealing from the shareholders Congress took immediate action. And this is the same situation. But the only difference is instead of the CEOs of these corporations stealing from the shareholders it's the government that is taking billions either knowingly or unknowingly as bilked billions from individuals since 1887.
Hall says he's hoping the workgroup will adopt a set of principles
Like fiduciary standards like can we put in an independent oversight commission those are two big sticking points today. And we are going to hopefully adopt those and say this is why we need to adopt an oversight commission because we don't think the government can reform itself because they keep saying they're doing a good job and we know different.'
John Echo Hawk is executive director of the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colorado. Echo Hawk says his organization is co-counsel for the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit. He says he is optimistic legislation will be passed and the lawsuit will be settled
The courts have held the government in breach of trust. The government does owe this accounting. The Congress knows this as well and I think is troubled by the fact that this case goes on and on even though these court rulings exist. It's really a burden on everyone involved in Indian Affairs to try and deal with this litigation. It's time for it to end.
Tribal officials say they are hopeful Senators Dorgan and McCain will co-sponsor legislation on the issue this month.
Hall says comments on the trust system are being taken at the N-C-A-I offices in Washington D-C. He says anyone who wants to comment can call 202-466-7767 or go online to w-w-w-dot-n-c-a-i-dot-org.