Spilyay Tytnoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
November 24, 2005
Appeals court: Indian money
accounting would be impossible
WASHINGTON, DlC (AP)
- A federal appeals court de
cided last week that it was un
reasonable to require a detailed
historical accounting of money
the government has been man
aging for American Indians, say
ing the bookkeeping chore
would "take 200 years."
The U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia
sided with the government and
the American Indians in their
effort to block a lower court's
order for the tally of money
owed them.
The accounting had been or
dered by U.S. District Judge
Royce Lamberth, who is over
seeing a class-action lawsuit in
which thousands of American
Indians claim they were cheated
out of more than $100 billion
in oil, gas, grazing, timber and
other royalties overseen by the
Interior Department since 1887.
In their appeals, the govern
ment and the plaintiffs have ar
gued that the massive historical
accounting Lamberth ordered
would cost up to $13 billion -far
more than was reasonable.
Last week, a three-judge ap
peals panel agreed, overturning
the accounting and calling
Lamberth's decision "ill
founded" and an abuse of dis
cretion that was not favored by
either side in the lawsuit.
Appellate Judge Stephen F.
Williams wrote that the account
ing ordered by Lamberth "would
not be finished for about 200
years, generations beyond the
lifetimes of all now living ben
eficiaries." The issue of how to deter
mine what is owed the Ameri
can Indians has gone back and
forth from Lamberth to the ap
peals court during the nearly 10
years since Blackfcct Indian
FJouise Cobell filed the lawsuit.
An 1887 law allotted land to
individual American Indians and
provided that the government
would hold the land and any
revenue from it in trust for them
and for their survivors. For 20
years before Cobell sued, sev
eral reports criticized the
government's management. In
1994, Congress ordered that the
money be accounted for.
The appeals court said the
accounting ordered by
Lamberth, who wanted a much
more detailed look at records,
improperly expanded the scope
of what Congress authorized.
The judge should have allowed
the Interior Department more
latitude in deciding how to per
form the accounting, the appeals
court wrote.
Interior Secretary Gale
Norton said in a statement that
she was pleased by the decision.
Scholarship announcement
The Intertribal Timber
Council has announced
scholarships available to Na
tive Americans interested in
the field of natural resouce
study.
The Truman D. Picard
Scholarship program pro
vides $1,800 for college stu
dents, and $1,200 for gradu
ating high school students.
Send for information and
applications at: Intertribal
Timber Council, attn Educa
tion Committee, 1112 NE
21st Ave., Portland, OR
97232-2114. Or call (503)
282-4296. Deadline for ap
plications is March 31.
Events calendar
Bead and Weavers Artists Craft Fair, 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 at the Museum at Warm
Springs. There is no table fee for the artists. And there
is no admission fee. Everyone is invited to come and
browse - and buy!
No School Day Activity is scheduled from 1 to 4
p.m., Friday, Dec. 2 at the Museum at Warm Springs.
Pine needle weaving is the activity for grades 4 and
older. There is no fee and the material is being pro
vided by the museum. Please call in your registration
to the museum Education Program at 553-3331, ext.
407.
World AIDS Day: Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise,
Thursday, Dec. 1 . Where: Community Center Social
Hall. Lunch will be served to all participants. Bring
your loved ones and learn together. Sponsored by
CHETandTRENS. Invocation at 11 a.m., AIDS Aware
ness Walk, 11:15. Lunch at 11:45. Noon: speaker.
1:15 closing.
Mylo Jones Thanksgiving Basketball Tourna
ment: Nov. 25-27. Mens 6 foot and under plus one.
You can have two big guys - only one on the court at
a time. Toppenish, Wash, tribal school, Stanley
Smartlowit Gym. Information contact Glen or Mildred
Jones, (509) 901-2372 or (509) 901-2373.
"Thus far, the department
has expended more than $100
million in its historical account
ing effort and has found ample
evidence that moneys collected
for individual Indians were dis
tributed to the correct recipi
ents," she said.
Bill McAllister, a spokesman
for the plaintiffs, said they were
disappointed with the ruling be
cause it gives the Interior De
partment more leeway in the
accounting. They wanted the
appeals court to send the deci
sion back to Lamberth to decide
how to do the tally, he said.
The price tag for the account
ing is high because the govern
ment ignored the problem for
so long, McAllister said. "The
Indians are being punished
twice for this," he said.
Lamberth has excoriated the
government's treatment of the
plaintiffs in past decisions. This
fall, he ordered the Interior
Department to disconnect all
computer systems with access to
American Indian accounts. Me
said the department's security
was so bad, hackers could easily
manipulate the data. The appeals
court granted the department a
reprieve so it could appeal.
Earlier this year, the plaintiffs
offered to settle the case for $27.5
billion. I louse and Senate lawmak
ers say the amount is too high.
Economic
summit Dec. 7
The Economic Summit follow-up
session is scheduled for
Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Kah-Nee-Ta.
An agenda will be distributed
later this month. The initial sum
mit meeting was held in Septem
ber. The two-day gathering in
cluded discussion among 40
leaders from the Warm Springs
business community.
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Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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Need help
with a legal
problem?
Legal Aid Services of
Oregon provides free
assistance to low
income Oregonians
in many civil cases.
Speak with an
attorney during drop
in hours 1 to 4 p.m.
on the first Monday
of the month at the
Family Resources
Center in Warm
Springs.
Or call us at 385
6944 Monday
through Wednesday
between 10 a.m. and
2 p.m.
EruUWy 475-3637
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