'Cobell' Dishonored by Interior's Buy-Back Plan
Gabriel S. Galanda 3/3/14
The U.S. Department of the Interiors Indian Land Buy Back Program has been lauded as the hallmark of the $3.4 billion Cobell v. Salazar settlement. As the Buy Back Program now lifts off in hurried fashion at Makah and Pine Ridge, the program dishonors both the letter and spirit of Cobell.
Cobell settled more than 500,000 tribal members trust land and asset mismanagement claims, dating back to the 1890s. Not tribal government claims; tribal member claims. Now, copy.9 billion in tribal member settlement monies has been allocated to help tribes buy back those members allotted or restricted fee lands. In practice, these buy backs are accomplished through the forced sale of tribal members ancestral lands. Injustice to individual Cobell class members aside, assuming that financially supporting a tribe will benefit that tribes members, one would hope that the buy-back wealth would be spread throughout Indian Country. After all, those 500,000 members of the Cobell class surely represent the vast majority of the 566 federally recognized tribes.
But it has recently come to light that Interior has limited the lions share of the copy.9 billion in buy back funding to only 40 tribes. Interiors outside appraisers recently let it slip that the program will exclude reservations east of the Mississippi and in Alaska. Interior was quick to retract that statement, but the genie was already out of the bottle. If that were not bad enough, other swaths of Indian Country with large Indian populations west of the Mississippi, like all of California Indian country (save the Washoe Tribe, which is headquartered in Nevada), are excluded from the program.
Cobell, for better or worse, was fought for all of Indian Country, not just 40 tribes. For the sake of the 500,000-plus Cobell class members whose land and related claims were extinguished for eternity, tribal communities west of the Mississippi, in Alaska and California, and elsewhere, all deserve to share in the Buy Back wealth.
Full Article: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/03/03/cobell-dishonored-interiors-buy-back-plan?page=0%2C0
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Uncle Sam - our Great "White Father" will continue finding ways to stick it up our asses and in our backs.
Looks to me like court time is called foras this is a violation of the Grand Master's rulings and direction.
Our government thinks they are above the law and can make their own rules as they see fit. The courts be damned.
This is not a BIA decision - it comes from the attorney corp in DOI. DOI has been against the tribes since day one - even John Echo-Hawk had serious issues with them and couldn't get them resolved.
I want to see some responses from NARF, NCAI, ACLU, some tribal nations - gotta feeling DOI has done stepped on their wee wee a little too much on this one.
Anytime the government thinks they can just write off 516 recognized tribes that are part of the Cobell ruling then they shouldn't be to surprised by the uproar they have started.
I stated this on another thread. It is my understanding that their is a 10 years time limit on getting this done. If not, any monies return to the government.
It's called ''running out the clock''...Kevin Washburn, an Indian is in charge of this, yet everything he does must be OK'ed by Sally Jewell, head of the DOI..Jewell, knows nothing, and is just another political appointee. In my opinion, not friendly to Indian Country.
No, Sally is not friendly to the Indians - not by a long shot.
Kevin, a Chickasaw, has nothing to do with what's happening now. The Special Master of the Court "directed" DOI to adhere to the findings of SCOTUS and make the distributions as directed. DOI, as usual, is politicking with the tribes and has selected whom they will pay based on back-scratching by the 40 tribes. The other tribes are going to have to file Friend of the Court Appeals to get it stopped and to get the Special Master to lay into this mess - again.
Larry, the settlements are allotment, lease, minerals, timber, sale of surplus lands during allotment- anything of funding that the tribes earned and was put into the special "Trust" management fund. Not all tribes are part of the settlement - only those under the trust responsibility fund. The actual figure that Congress skirted was in the neighborhood of $47B and theyreduced it to 10% of that figure on the excuse that the Feds didn't have that kind of money to give to the tribes. The attorneys were pissed 'cause that meant they were going to get a smaller cut - but - what the hey, eh?
1st, Kevin is in charge of the buy back program. As I stated above anything that he does must be OK'd by the DOI. He is in the stuck in the middle, a no win position that prior Indians were put in. Larry Echo Hawk is a prime example.
The government never has enough money to settle claims by Indians. They were 1.3 billion short of the 10%. It's government math when it is in regard to Indians. 10% of 47 billion, is 4.7 billion. We ended up with 3.4 billion before lawyers fees. LOL, but what the hell, a billion here, a billion there soon they'll be talking real money.
The tribal legal eagles need to get started and be very aggressive filing any and all motions that can be brought to the table. This is our government changing the words of a court ruling to suit the governments will. This is the government action that needs to be stopped. They have been doing this since they set foot on this continent.
But, we got plenty of money to spare for Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East, Africa - in the tune of $400B and change.
Yup, we sure do 1st. Sad, isn't it.
This is our government changing the words of a court ruling to suit the governments will.
Exactly Larry.
This is the government action that needs to be stopped. They have been doing this since they set foot on this continent.
And no one has had the guts to stand up to them.
Which goes totally with the article 'bout the dude who sued NSA, DHS and somebody else and won. They backed down 'cause they were in the wrong. Wonder if Interior will do the same when the legals get after them?