Obama Admin moves to end royalty dispute with Indian tribes.

[Clio the Leo]

US: $3B to end royalty dispute with Indian tribes

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer Matthew Daly, Associated Press Writer – 6 mins ago
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration Tuesday proposed spending more than $3 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit with American Indian tribes that claim they were swindled out of billions of dollars in royalties for oil, gas, grazing and other leases dating back more than a century.

Under an agreement announced Tuesday, the Interior Department would distribute $1.4 billion to more than 300,000 Indian tribe members to compensate them for historical accounting claims, and to resolve future claims. The government also would spend $2 billion to buy back and consolidate tribal land broken up in previous generations. The program would allow individual tribe members to obtain cash payments for land interests divided among numerous family members and return the land to tribal control.

The settlement also would create a scholarship account of up to $60 million for tribal members to attend college or vocational school.

If cleared by Congress and a federal judge, the settlement would be the largest Indian claim ever approved against the U.S. government — exceeding the combined total of all previous settlements of Indian claims.

Last year, a federal judge ruled that the Indian plaintiffs are entitled to $455 million, a fraction of the $47 billion or more the tribes have said they are owed for leases that have been overseen by the Interior Department since 1887.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091208/ap_on_bi_ge/us_indian_money

[vaberella]

1. Good Job...Admin. ^_^ K/R.

I'm waitng for the people calling this reparations and possible bashing. I'm becoming more cynical I know.

[Kdillard]

2. Wow that is great hopefully it clears Congress quickly.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. This is a seedy Obama trick.

Compared to the real estate value taken from Native Americans during this last November and previous months, this is a net loss for Native Americans.

There go the Native Americans, under the wheels of the Obama bus.

[druidity33]

14. jerk seasoning...

that's what i consider your additions to most threads.

[mkultra]

15. working on your christmas bonus?

putting in a little overtime?

[ClarkUSA]

4. Where are the idiots who think Obama = Bush when you want them?

:D

[Pirate Smile]

5. That's awesome.

[Nictuku]

6. I have been following this case for ages

.... and I never ever thought it would be settled.

For years they have been lied to and swindled out of what was rightfully theirs, and if Obama is able to make some headway and get some compensation into the hands of our Native Americans, then I think I'll have to forgive him for some of the other things he has done that I disagree with.

At least give him credit for taking a bold step that should have been taken decades ago.

[Clio the Leo]

9. Thank you.

Reading your reply made my OP worth posting.

[Cha]

10. Thank you for your reaction to

this. I was really glad to see where a lot of the money is going.

"The settlement also would create a scholarship account of up to $60 million for tribal members to attend college or vocational school.

If cleared by Congress and a federal judge, the settlement would be the largest Indian claim ever approved against the U.S. government — exceeding the combined total of all previous settlements of Indian claims.

Last year, a federal judge ruled that the Indian plaintiffs are entitled to $455 million, a fraction of the $47 billion or more the tribes have said they are owed for leases that have been overseen by the Interior Department since 1887."

[mike_c]

7. it will be interesting to hear how the various plaintifs respond to this offer....

As the article notes, the offer is only a small fraction of the total the tribes believe they are owed, but it's MUCH better than the pittance the court has so far been willing to award.

The answer is probably that accepting the settlement would be just another thumb in the first nations' collective eye, but it's likely to be the best they're going to get. There is a time to cut your loses, I suppose. Not saying I advocate that-- or any other response. It's not my call.

[Cha]

8. I hope this will really help.."More than $3 Billion"

is quite a bit more than $455 Million.

It's dispicable how our Gov has cheated the Native Americans out of their royalties over the centuries.

[Paulie]

16. But quite a bit less than what they think they are owed

"a fraction of the $47 billion or more the tribes have said they are owed" I say we split the difference, hope they accept it, as we did screw up the accounting for a couple hundred years.

[Undercurrent]

11. Great news!

:thumbsup:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

12. So Obama is no longer King of the Indians? Oh... THAT kind of royalty. Never mind.

[mzmolly]

13. WONDERFUL!

:toast:

[niyad]

17. 3 billion out of the 47 billion claimed to be owed? will be interesting to see the response.

[cherokeeprogressive]

18. Pennies on the dollar, but meaningful nevertheless.

There is no way to right the wrongs, not in a thousand years of chipping away at the stone. Props to President Obama for taking a bigger swing at said stone than his predecessors.

I think the First Nations peoples are owed trillions, but that's just one man's opinion.