Native American Trust Fund Scandal
When the U.S. government took control of Native Americans’ property rights in 1887, Indians were assured they would receive all the income from their land. They never did. According to accounts from whistle-blowers, money belonging to individual Indians was pilfered, skimmed, redirected, or thrown in with general government funds by the U.S. Department of the Interior or its appointed representatives.
In 1996, a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 500,000 Indians demanded an accounting and restitution of their money. The court found gross mismanagement, with the government unable to account for billions of dollars in land and resource profits that it claimed it distributed to Indian families during the past century. Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet tribe, the lead plaintiff, stood firm through 12 years of government appeals and resistance.
The final trial to determine a remedy was held in June 2008 and a ruling will be given in August 2008. The final judgment against the federal government is expected to be in the low billions.
Read a short summary and more about the Cobell case.
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