Native Americans - Screwed Again

Last Thursday (August 7) yet another injustice was done to the Native American Indian. U.S. District Judge James Robertson awarded $455.6 million as compensation for the 100+ years’ ineptitude of the Department of Interior. This is far short of the $47 billion sought.

I am appalled at the way the Native Americans are being treated regarding this matter. It has taken over 12 years just to get this far, and for the “honorable” Judge Robertson to disregard such obvious incompetence from the Department of the Interior starting as far back as 1887 astounds me.

You can find more detailed information here, but suffice to say that the Native Americans were truly shafted - Big Time. In 1887, The Department of the Interior placed in trust all monies owed the Indians for the use of the natural resources on their reservations. It turns out that no accounting was maintained over this trust - ever. According to Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet tribe and lead plaintiff in the suit, the trust fund was constantly raided by Congress over the last century plus for such things as balancing the budget.

So a century and a quarter later, Indians who had oil wells pumping in their back yard were living in abject poverty, plaintively asking where the money was that they were owed. Fortunately, Ms. Cobell became aware of this impropriety and filed a class action suit in 1996.

It is an absolute tragedy that relatively no one knows about this travesty. It barely is noticed by anyone, and certainly mainstream media is ignoring the story. I’ve been aware of this for some time, and even though I try to stay informed, it took three days for me to discover a decision had been handed down. However, at least there are those in the independent media and the blogosphere who are making noise about this egregious behavior by our government. It saddens me that Native Americans owed vast amounts of compensation are dying as this case moves so slowly through the court system.

Ms. Cobell is appealing this horrible decision, and I truly hope that in the end she and our fellow countrymen, the Native Americans, are vindicated.