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In 1887, the U.S. government felt that Indians couldn’t manage their own affairs. Congress then initiated a Native American trust fund to be managed by the government. The revenues from mining, grazing, farming, oil wells and timber operations on all Indian lands and also money from the forced sale of more than 90 million of acres of Indian land went into the trust fund. The trust fund money was then to be disbursed to individual Indians. However, very little was paid to them.
Some estimate that during the past 120 years, federal agencies mismanaged or stole upward of $100 billion from the trust fund. Others say as much as $300 billion. No one knows for sure. Most of the money is unaccounted for. Today the government accounting system is in shambles.
In 1996 Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet Indian, filed the largest-ever class action suit against the federal government on the behalf of 500,000 American Indians. Since then federal government agencies have shredded tens of thousands of documents, fierce court battles were fought and the government has paid hefty fines for illegal courtroom maneuvers and delays.
The ruling this month will be interesting. The plaintiffs are asking for $58 billion. Why are the media so silent on this major issue?
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