Indians pose questions, listen to lawyers at trust fund settlement meeting in Mission

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Paula Antoine, of Winner, asks a question of lawyers Wednesday in Mission about the formation of a $60 million American Indian scholarship fund as part of the Cobell settlement. (Chris Huber/Republic Photo)

Talk about it

MISSION — Decades of mistreatment can’t be fixed with money, American Indians at a meeting to discuss a tentative $3.4 billion settlement agreement with the federal government said Wednesday night.

But receiving some money would heal some wounds over money stolen or lost from Indian trust funds since the Dawes Act was passed in 1887, they said.

Paula Antoine, of Winner, asked several questions during the two-hour meeting held by Washington, D.C., lawyers who negotiated the settlement. While Antoine said she was satisfied with most of the answers, she said Indians are wary and want more information.

“It just clarifies the mistrust all Native Americans have with the federal government,” she said.

The lawsuit has been led by the efforts of Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff. Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe in northwest Montana, started to investigate more than 30 years ago why money supposedly held in Indian trust accounts was not accessible to many tribal members.

She was derided and dismissed for years but kept working and fighting. In 1995, Cobell hired Dennis Gingold, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who attended the meeting Wednesday in Mission, a town on the Rosebud Reservation in south-central South Dakota. It was one in a series of meetings in Indian Country to disseminate information about the settlement.

They learned billions of dollars — at one point the estimate was $176 billion — that was supposed to have been placed in Individual Indian Money accounts had been stolen or lost.

After 14 years of court battles, the federal government and the plaintiffs’ lawyers reached the $3.4 billion agreement on Dec. 7, 2009. The deal required congressional approval and gained it Dec. 8. President Obama signed the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 to offer some compensation for the money that should have gone to Indians.

“This settlement is larger than all others,” Gingold said. “We’re talking this one is greater than all others combined in the history of U.S.-Indian relations.”

About 500,000 people are eligible for the payments, he said. Most will receive about $1,800. Others who owned trust land that earned far more income from oil leases, grazing or other mineral rights may receive $1 million or more, he said.

Money will be disbursed this fall unless a federal judge finds the settlement unfair.

There are about 69,000 Indians in South Dakota. It’s unclear how many are eligible for compensation for the money stolen or lost from their accounts, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) records are imprecise, which makes it difficult to find everyone eligible for a payment.

There is also a problem with Indians who are unwilling to deal with federal officials and unsure if they can trust anyone with their information. Some speakers said people, especially elders, fear a loss of rights.

Gingold addressed about 75 people at the Sinte Gleska University gymnasium. Because of winter driving conditions, Gingold, two other lawyers and an associate were a half hour late for the meeting, but the audience members, who have been waiting for the settlement for more than a decade, waited patiently.

Homer Whirlwind Soldier, of rural St. Francis, said he was impressed with the information shared at the meeting and thanked Gingold and his team. Whirlwind Soldier, a hereditary chief of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said he has been observing the legal battle for years.

The lawsuit is not tied to efforts to recover the Black Hills or any other tribal lawsuits or claims, according to Alex Pearl, one of the lawyers who held the meeting.

“This is not a case that deals with treaties,” Pearl said.

Gingold said his share of the settlement has yet to be determined, but it will be a hefty paycheck after more than 15 years of work without any compensation. He said he and a large law firm will split the pay, which will be at least in the tens of millions of dollars.

A deadline of April 20 has been set to opt-out on some of the rights. Gingold advised against declining the settlement.

“It’s the best we can do,” he said. “It took us 15 years to get to this point.”

The settlement includes Indians who had an IIM account any time from Oct. 25, 1994, to Sept. 30, 2009, who had an individual interest in trust land as of Sept. 30, 2009, or who are heirs to deceased IIM account holders or owners

of land held in trust or restricted status.

The settlement includes $1.5 billion to compensate those in the settlement, $1.9 billion to buy small interests in trust or restricted land, which will be returned to tribal jurisdiction, and up to $60 million to fund scholarships for Indian youth.

Since the second judge who handled the case reduced the number of claimants, claims from 1887 until 1994 and from October 2009 to the present could still be sought, Gingold said.

For more information on the settlement, call 1-800-961-6109 or visit www.IndianTrust.com.

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