FEDERAL AGENCY BUSTED IN ELABORATE SCHEME TO SELL NATIVE AMERICAN LAND TO CORPORATIONS.

'The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) exists, in theory, to assist Native Americans manage the 55 million acres of land that the federal government holds in trust for its Native owners. However, an In These Times investigative report has revealed that in practice, the BIA routinely helps outside corporations lowball landowners so that they can exploit Native resources for maximum profit.

“They attacked my Aunt like a bunch of coyotes attacking sheep in a corral,” said Navajo Roberta Tovar. “They were going, ‘Mary, Mary, just go ahead and sign it.’ ”

The BIA encouraged Mary Tom to renew the Western Union’s right to use her land for a measly $2,000 bonus. Given that the average tribal member’s average income barely tops $10,000, with unemployment rates averaging $10,000, Tom eventually signed the papers. But only after the BIA insisted upon sitting down at a private meeting with Western Union without any trusted family members being permitted to attend. Records also show that representatives from the BIA had a “pre-meeting” with Western Union before she arrived.

A report from the Interior Department discovered that in 2015, 60% of Native landowners made less than $25 from leasing and other land-related income, with some getting only a few pennies. In contrast, huge corporations such as Koch Industries, Wal-Mart, Dollar General and many more made well over $5 billion from resources extracted from Native land.'>>>

http://usuncut.com/news/federal-agency-busted-elaborate-scheme-sell-native-american-land-corporations/