Obama Moves to Settle 41 Tribal Trust Cases for $1 Billion
Source: Indian Country
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration announced April 11 its intent to resolve 41 long-standing disputes with Indian tribal governments over the federal mismanagement of trust funds and resources.
Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, said the settlements will amount to a combined total of $1.023 billion to the 41 tribes for past federal mismanagement.
Beyond money, the settlements also set forth a framework for promoting tribal sovereignty and improving nation-to-nation federal-tribal relations, while trying to avoid future litigation through improved communication, Moreno said.
Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the Justice Department, told Indian Country Today Media Network that the Obama administration is choosing not to announce a breakdown of monies to each tribe, “leaving it at discretion of the tribes.” He said that the decision was made “in deference to the tribes” out of “respect for their confidentiality.” Some of the settlements – about 35 – are available with the D.C. district court, Hornbuckle said, but the others are filed as “dismissed,” so they are not public record.
Read more: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/04/11/obama-moves-to-settle-41-tribal-trust-cases-for-1-billion-107735
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"Chief James Allan, Coeur d’Alene tribal chairman, said at the event that he believes Obama has done more for tribes than the last five presidents combined."
The President has done well to resolve these longstanding issues. 
Keep the lawyers busy a couple more centuries or so. 
From the article:
“Many of the cases include claims by the tribes that go back over 100 years,” Galbraith said, adding that the deal represented “good-faith cooperation and hard work of the administration and 41 American Indian tribes in working out fair and honorable resolutions of the tribes’ claims.”
Also, names from the hard-working personnel involved:
The announcement was made at a White House ceremony, with Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, and other senior members of the Obama administration joining tribal leaders in attendance.
“May we walk together toward a brighter future, built on trust, and not acrimony,” said Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor General of the Interior Department, at the event. “And when I say the word trust, I don’t mean the legal definition of that word, I mean the dictionary’s definition of that word—assured reliance on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship, or other sound principle of a person or thing….”
Tompkins is a Navajo Nation citizen, and she personally helped sort out the legal parameters of the deals.
Photo from last year, with Hilary Tompkins, the Solicitor General of the Interior Department sitting 2nd from the left,
front row:
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Department of Justice, Department of Interior, and Osage tribal officials sign a commemoration of the final settlement of historic trust accounting and trust management claims. Photo Credit: DOI
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The following post appears courtesy of Ignacia Moreno, the Assistant Attorney General Environment and Natural Resources Division at the U.S. Department of Justice and Hilary Tompkins, the Solicitor of the U.S. Department of Interior
Today, we joined Osage Tribe Principal Chief John Red Eagle, other tribal leaders, and our colleagues at the Treasury Department, in a ceremony to commemorate a historic settlement marking the end of a long-running lawsuit by the Osage Tribe of Oklahoma regarding claims involving the United States’ accounting and management of the tribe’s trust funds and non-monetary trust assets.
Reaching a final settlement with the Osage Tribe on its trust accounting and trust mismanagement claims has been a priority for the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior.
Attorney General Holder and Secretary Salazar have been committed to resolving pending tribal trust accounting and trust mismanagement cases, in a fair and equitable manner and without protracted litigation, so that the United States and the tribes can jointly undertake reconciliation and empowerment for American Indian nations.
More:
http://blogs.justice.gov/main/archives/category/envnatres
