First Americans

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
QUESTIONS? CALL TOLL‐FREE 1‐800‐961‐6109 OR VISIT WWW.INDIANTRUST.COM.
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Important information about the
$3.4 billion Indian Trust Settlement
For current or former IIM account holders,
Owners of land held in trust or restricted status, or their heirs
A federal court authorized this notice. You are not being sued.
Para el aviso en español, llame o visite nuestro sitio en internet.
Din4k’ehgo ‘i[ hane’ biniiy4go, b44sh bee holne’ doodago b44sh [ich7’ii biyi’j8’ nihaa nanitah.
 A proposed Settlement has been reached in Cobell v. Salazar, a class action lawsuit about
individual Indian land, funds and other assets held in trust by the federal government. Courts
decided that the federal government has violated its trust duties, including a duty to account for
Individual Indian Money trust funds. The Settlement will resolve claims that the government
violated its trust duties by (a) mismanaging individual Indian trust funds and other assets, (b)
improperly accounting for those funds, and (c) mismanaging trust land and other assets. The
individual Indian trust land is called “allotted” land and owners are from time to time referred to
as “beneficiaries,” “allottees,” or “landowners.”
 You may be part of this Settlement with certain rights in this Settlement if you are an:
 Individual Indian Money (“IIM”) account holder (even if the account currently is not
active or open),
 Individual Indian who has or had an ownership interest in land held in trust or in
restricted status,
 Heir to a deceased IIM account holder or individual landowner.
 The Settlement establishes funds worth approximately $1.5 billion to pay individual Indian trust
beneficiaries for past accounting problems and resolve historical asset mismanagement claims.
Settlement and administrative expenses, incentive fees and expenses of the Class Representatives,
and legal fees and expenses will be paid out of these Settlement funds. Another $1.9 billion will
be used primarily to buy up interests in trust lands that are owned by many people (“fractionated
interests”).
 Congress has passed legislation authorizing the Settlement and provided funding for it. The
President has signed the legislation into law.

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President Barack Obama Remembers Elouise Cobell
October 27, 2011

With the passing of Elouise Cobell, a proud member of the Blackfeet Nation of Montana, we have lost a champion of Native American rights. Her persistent and determined leadership in the pursuit of justice for Native Americans will leave an enduring legacy.

As treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation, Elouise spoke out when she saw that the federal government had failed to account for billions of dollars that it owed to hundreds of thousands of her fellow Native Americans. In 1996, she filed suit, and for 15 years, tirelessly led a legal battle, with seven trials, 10 appeals, and dozens of published decisions. She fought her battle not just in the courts, but in the halls of Congress before finally securing justice for more than 300,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives in the form of a $3.4 billion settlement.

The agreement reached in Cobell v. Salazar marked the largest government class-action settlement in our nation’s history. The scholarship fund this settlement established will give more Native Americans access to higher education. Tribes will have more control over their own lands. Elouise’s tireless efforts strengthened the government-to-government relationship with Indian country, and a generation of Native Americans and all Americans has seen the promise of justice realized.

Last December, I had the privilege to meet with Elouise in the Oval Office prior to signing into law a bill to make things right. The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 is a direct result of the settlement that bears her name. It is proof of an enduring American idea – that change is always possible.

more at link:
http://www.cobellsettlement.com/