Federal judge rules United States botched(Indian) trust accounting

[nosmokes]

Great ruling but I wonder just what impact it will have? There have been rulings before and it's an established and even pretty well accepted fact the trust fund is owed billions of dollars and is accruing interest in the neighborhood of millions of dollars weekly and yet many of the people that actually own this money live in dire poverty at bare subsistance levels because of the incompetence and downright dishonesty of the US Government.
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original-indiancountry

Federal judge rules United States botched trust accounting
by: The Associated Press
Ruling says Department of the Interior failed in its accounting responsibilities for billions of dollars

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge ruled that the Interior Department has ''unreasonably delayed'' its accounting for billions of dollars owed to Indian landholders Jan. 30.

The federal agency ''has not, and cannot, remedy the breach'' of its responsibilities to account for the Indian money, U.S. District Judge James Robertson said in a 165-page decision in a long-running federal lawsuit alleging mismanagement of Indian trust funds.

''Indeed, it is now clear that completion of the required accounting is an impossible task'' for the department, Robertson said, adding that he would schedule a hearing next month to discuss ways to solve the problem. He added that his conclusion that Interior is unable to perform an adequate accounting does not mean that the task is hopeless.

''It does mean that a remedy must be found for the department's unrepaired, and irreparable, breach of its fiduciary duty over the last century. And it does mean that the time has come to bring this suit to a close,'' he said.

The suit, first filed in 1996 by Elouise Cobell, Blackfeet, claims the government has mismanaged more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties held in trust from Indian lands dating back to 1887.

Cobell said in a statement Jan. 30 that ''this is a great day in Indian country.''

''We've argued for over 10 years that the government is unable to fulfill its duty to render an adequate historical accounting, much less redress the historical wrongs heaped upon the individual Indian trust beneficiaries,'' Cobell said.

~snip~
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complete article here

[Iktomiwicasa]

1. And the truth...

...that is unpalatable to DUers is that the Demorats are just as guilty as the Refucklikans. Ask either of the two front running dems if they intend to completely honor and reinstate full treaty obligations and see what happens. Rotten fucking skunks who couldn't give a rip about indians, all of them.

[Me.]

2. Due Respect

But I question your painting DUers with such a broad brush. Your lowish post count would indicate you haven't been here long enough to be an expert.

[Iktomiwicasa]

5. Been here...

...awhile. Don't post alot for a couple of reasons, number one being I don't always have a functioning computer, and my time is well occupied by the necessities of survival here on Pine Ridge. As for a "sympathetic" audience, yeah, there are some here, however, many get pretty ticked off when it is pointed out that WRT native issues (and I don't mean throwing an occasional bone our way as is the democrats habit)that the Democrat's record is every bit as bad as the Republicans. I post here simply because as a people, we don't have enough voting power for the politicians to really take us seriously. We need allies who will force their leaders to fully and completely restore all treaty rights and trust monies as is mandated by Federal law.

[Me.]

11. Your Cause Is Worthy

And your bitterness justified but if you are posting here as a means to draw attention to the plight of your people, I might suggest that a slap down at the very people you seek as potential allies may not be the best strategy.

[Iktomiwicasa]

12. Not a slap...

....just the truth.

[tkmorris]

3. Blatantly false

You will find more sympathy toward Native American causes and complaints here on DU than you will find in any other group, anywhere. Most of us are well aware that our Democratic leadership is complicit in these injustices, and make no apologies for them whatsoever.

[mike_c]

10. that might be the case, but the DUer is right in saying that the dems...

...own this travesty just as much as the republicans. This is 100 years of malfeasance. Every American should be ashamed.

[tkmorris]

19. And I said the same in my short post

Democratic leadership is complicit. I know this. I said so. What point are you trying to make?

[nosmokes]

4. apparently you've missed the response and feedback to posts relating to

First Nations/Native American issues on this board.There are generally many and most are quite informed. Life is easier when you learn to distinguish friend from foe.

[ConsAreLiars]

15. Sorry to say it, but you are right.

I wrote my second letter to a President (the first was to Nixon) regarding Peltier. He chose instead to pardon the one Scooter Libby advocated and took as much shit for that decision as a Peltier pardon would have generated. That simple fact told me way more than I wanted to know about alliances and loyalties.

[riderinthestorm]

6. This deserves a big K&R. Native American treatment is America's greatest shame

I can't believe that this post isn't already recommended 10,000 times.

I am not even 1% NA but the outrage perpetuated against our NA population by both Dem and Rethug is of, or of such magnitude, so grotesque, it boggles the mind.....

[Iktomiwicasa]

7. Watch...

..how fast this drops off the front page. People would rather yammer on about cigarette smokers or Ann Coulter

[flashl]

8. Have followed the saga with Interior and their acctg for years ...

Hope this time the government will follow court orders.

[nosmokes]

14. Don't hold your breath waiting for the gov't to cough up $Billions.

Like I said there have been other wins in court and everything gets caught up in a paperwork boondoggle. It'a an outrage.

[flashl]

17. Yes, I know. For over a hundred years, winning in court against goberment haven't

resolved anything. The goberment simply ignores or stalls implementation. The 'justice' system largely functions and enforcement takes place when the goberment or a business wins a ruling against individuals.

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Gee, how many years did that take?

Ten years? Can anyone explain to me how the defense didn't get away with a statute of limitation?

[slipslidingaway]

13. Abramoff and gaming Indians: Just the tip of the iceberg

K&R thanks

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/1/195344/1903

Abramoff and gaming Indians: Just the tip of the iceberg
by mbw
Wed Feb 01, 2006 at 10:43:10 PM PST
(From the diaries -- kos)

"For a couple of weeks now, I've been writing about what I've come to view as the much bigger scandal involving everyone from Jack Abramoff to Gale Norton to Richard Pombo to Grover Norquist, and generally every major Republican in between. It too has to do with Indians, but not only those with gaming operations. In fact, the real actors in this drama are the poorest of Indians, mostly in the West and Plains.

This morning, I tried to summarize the issues in a comment thread at MyDD. It was the first time since starting my research that I've tried to put the "story" down in as few words as possible. Because the fact is, unless people can actually grasp the basics of this scandal, and how it effects not just a few hundred thousand Indians, but everyone in this country, I think it will never make it past a few interested links on Technorati.

So below the jump is my best try to do just that..."


http://edgewise.info/2006/02/05/shooting_indians_in_a_barrel_the_trust_scandal.html

"...The lawsuit, filed in 1996, came out of Indian tribes’ attempt to find and recover billions of dollars in revenues from government leases of their lands since 1887. Since that year, 11 million acres of Indian tribal land have been held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or BIA, within the Department of the Interior, which was to collect and distribute over $300 million in annual revenues from agriculture, oil, mining, and timber leases on the Indian lands. In fact, an audit of the Interior department’s Individual Indian Monies (IIM) trust revealed that no records could be located before 1973, and between 1973 and 1992 more than $2.4 billion in revenues owed to Indians was missing or unaccounted for. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who has presided over the decade-long suit and appeal, told one Interior witness in the trial, “You know any banker would be in jail for handling funds like this, don’t you?”


...Over at Daily Kos, Wampum blogger MB Williams points out that the Abramoff influence buying and campaign contribution scandal is part of a bigger picture that involves Bush’s cabinet appointees and Republican legislators:

The story of Jack Abramoff’s buying of influence goes well beyond a few Congressional players. While those relationships are key to the story, they’re secondary to his cozy relationship with CREA director Italia Federici, her former boss, Sec. of the Interior, Gale Norton, and Deputy Sec. Steven Griles, and this seedy gang’s take-over of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)..."

[flashl]

20. Abramoff is probably the reason of a do nothing Congress.

Abramoff's money trail lead back to over 300 Congresspersons, as well as, the WH. Gale Norton’s escape from prosecution is as unbelievable as Libby's pardon.

Shortly after * took office, this admin concerted effort to take Native Americans resources was front page news in D.C.

[Iktomiwicasa]

21. It's

been the same story no matter WHO was in the White House or in control of either Houses, which is my whole point.

[flashl]

23. Agreed. nt

[slipslidingaway]

24. Unfortunately, I believe the reason for not doing anything is that

people do not care enough about other people :(

And this applies to both parties.

http://www.monitor.net/monitor/free/biatrustfund.html

"...With no other recourse left at their disposal, NARF, along with other attorneys, filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court on June 10 on behalf of more than 300,000 American Indians. The suit charges Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Assistant Interior Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Ada Deer and Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin with illegal conduct in regard to the management of Indian money held in trust accounts and managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs...

"The BIA has spent more than 100 years mismanaging, diverting and losing money that belongs to Indians," Echohawk says. "They have no idea how much has been collected from the companies that use our land and are unable to provide even a basic, regular statement to Indian account holders."


...Finally in 1994, after years of pressure by both Indians and legislators, Congress enacted the Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act and appointed Paul Homan as the special trustee charged with straightening out the century-old mess.

Once again there was hope. But the legislative solution proved to be just another in a long line of toothless piles of paper generated by government bureaucrats. Although Homan was ready and willing to repair the system, Congress failed to provide funds to make the changes a reality. With no other path before them, the Indians took their fight to the courts.


In many instances it provides the only life-line for Indian families who often make up the most impoverished sector of our society Echohawk's claim that the BIA is completely out of touch with the amount of revenues it collects or should be collecting has been confirmed by countless congressional oversight hearings covering decades..."

[flashl]

29. I believe your point ..

'people do not care enough about other people' is true when people buy into the concept of scarcity, instead of abundance, from the 'wealth effect' angle.

Other times, it is not as simple as saying people do not care. This gobermint has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to use the same tactics of its most infamous homegrown terra group to silence those who would unite and defend the rights of others. Under these circumstances, it is a matter of self-preservation.

I am very clear on the most important underlying factors, freedom is not free and none of us will be free, until all of us are free.

[slipslidingaway]

30. Point taken :) n/t

[troubleinwinter]

16. I was not impressed in the least by the response to a tribal leader by a candidate today.

The presidential candidate merely repeated the leader's words back to him. 'Yeah, education, healthcare, opportunities are such a problem. We'll sure do somthing about that. I'll even have a meeting once a year.' http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x89675

No addressing of the trust monies owed. No mention of the need for uranium cleanup from the government's mine owners poisoning of the waters and land, killing the people's flocks and the children by horrible cancers and early deaths and disablement. The gov't got their uranium and the natives died, still die from it and the gov't walked away leaving them to continue to die. This wasn't a hundred years ago, it is NOW. The drinking water on Navajo land is poisoned. Wexler knows. Rep. Tom Udall (now running for NM senate has worked towards solving the problem for years).

If the presidential candidate knows anything at all about the uranium poisoning on these lands, he sure isn't mentioning it. If he knows anything about the stolen trust monies, he did not mention that he would lend support.

[Iktomiwicasa]

22. See...

...the Democrats merely pander to us, pay lip service, at election time. As soon as they think they have secured the few votes that we control, it's back to the routine of fucking us over.

[slipslidingaway]

25. Agree, this spans both parties and since people were not held

to account, another group will be targeted and then another etc.

As long as those in control can keep the "D" vs. "R" divide intact the common people will suffer :(


http://www.alternet.org/story/74268

Substitute another group or even another party, the results are the same.

"...So what I see is that the Democratic Party abandoned working people, and paradoxically they're the ones who hoist the flag of workers every two and four years only to engender excitement, and then to turn around and abandon their constituency. This is now on the level of a practiced ritual..."

[Iktomiwicasa]

26. The reality...

...is that the U.S. government is in fact a one party system, with some dressing in red, others in blue in order to maintain the illusion of "democracy".

[slipslidingaway]

27. That is true for many people, whether knowingly or unknowingly,

and then there are people who attempt to change the system. If their voice becomes too loud they are marginalized.

[OneBlueSky]

18. no group has suffered more at the hands of the U.S. government than Native Americans . . .

everyone in this country should hang their heads in shame . . .

[elehhhhna]

28. ...then look forward and get to fixing it. k&R