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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2010)
Pgge 8 Spilygy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Heritage Month at OSU December 1, 2010 Senate approves Cobell settlement Gary Villa, Carlos Calica and Kyle Queahpama (from left), members of the drum group Star Horse (also below), perform during the Nike N7 Oregon State basketball game against Texas Southern University on Nov. 21. It was played at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. The game and related events recognized November as Native American Heritage Month. WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Senate has approved almost $4.6 billion to setde longstanding claims brought by A m erican In d ian s, through the Cobell lawsuit, and by black farmers against the government. The money has been held up for months in the Senate as Democrats and Republi cans squabbled over how to pay for it. The two class action law suits were filed over a decade ago. O f the total $4.6 billion, $3.4 billion would go to In dian landowners who claim they were swindled out of royalties by the Interior De partment. The legislation was ap proved in the Senate by voice vote late in November and sent to the House of Repre sentatives. Possibly as many as 2,000 members of the Confeder ated Tribes of Warm Springs may be eligible to participate in the settlement, and may re ceive some compensation. A tribal member qualified to participate if the person has or had an individual trust ac count. Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Montana, and the lead plaintiff in the Indian case, said that it took her breath away when she found out the Senate had passed the bill. She was feeling despondent after the chamber had tried and failed to pass the legislation many times and two people who would have been beneficiaries had died on her reservation this week. “I t’s 17 belo w and thè B lack feet n atio n is feelin g warm,” she said. “I don’t know if people understand or believe the agony you go through when one of the beneficiaries passes away without justice.” A t le ast 300,000 N ative A m ericans claim they w ere swindled out of royalties over seen by the Interior Department since 1887 for things like oil, gas, grazing and timber. The plaintiffs would share the settlement. The C o b ell law su it has dragged on for almost 15 years, with one judge in 2008 compar ing it to the Charles Dickens’ “Bleak House,” which chronicles a never-ending legal suit. Using passages from that novel, U.S. D istrictjudge James Robertson noted that the “suit has, in course o f tim e, becom e so com pli cated” that “no two lawyers can talk about it for five minutes without coming to a total dis agreem ent as to all the pre mises.” The Indian plaintiffs origi nally said they were owed $100 billion, but signaled they were willing to setde for less as the trial wore on. After more than 3,600 court filings and 80 court decisions, the two sides finally reached a settlement in December. “Personally I still think we’re owed a hundred billion dollars, but how long do you drag this thing out?” Cobell said. “Do you drag it out un til every beneficiary is dead? You just can’t do that.” The recent Senate action also includes almost $1.2 bil lion for black farmers who say they suffered decades of discrimination at the hands of the Agriculture Depart ment. John Boyd, head of the National Black Farmers As sociation, said the passage o f the b lack fa rm e rs’ money also is long overdue. “Twenty-six years’ justice is in sight for our nation’s black farmers,” he said. Lawm akers from both parties have said they sup port reso lvin g the lo n g standing claims of discrimi nation and mistreatment by federal agencies. The fi nancing has been caught up in a fight over spending and deficits. Republicans repeat edly objected to the settle m ents w hen they w ere added on to larger pieces of legislation. But Senate Ma jority Leader Harry Reid sat isfied conservative com plaints by finding ways to cover the cost. IRA’S SALES & SERVICE, INC 24-HOUR TOW SERVICE Yvonne Iverson photos. Community Counseling has crisis support available round the clock Warm Springs Community Counseling continues to offer 24- hour crisis support to tribal mem bers. During overnight weekday hours and the weekends, calls made for crisis support go to Po lice Department Dispatch, 541- 553-1171. Dispatchers will take your name and telephone num ber and notify the crisis worker. The crisis worker will them call you to provide crisis help. Call 541-553-3205 during of fice hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. for cri sis assistance Mondays-Fri- days. And always call 911 in an emergency. Check out the Spilyay Web site: wsnews.org ____ if Auto Repair MAO««.«* 'îW W ! Thank you fo r supporting the advertisers you see in the Spilyay Tymoo. 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