Indianz.Com > News > Letter: Indians kept poor by federal government

Letter: Indians kept poor by federal government
Monday, June 16, 2008
Filed Under: Cobell | Opinion

"Del Quentin Wilber gave a succinct overview of a momentous trial concerning what the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has called "government malfeasance" regarding the handling of individual Indian trust accounts over the past century. Federal mismanagement of profits from 10 million acres of Indian land has kept generations of Native American families in poverty despite their substantial assets.

In 2005, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) proposed reforms to the Interior Department's accounting system for Indian trust funds and a settlement to repay the money owed. Finding a judicial or legislative remedy to repay the families is not only a fiduciary matter -- it is a moral responsibility."

Get the Story:
Patricia Powers: What Native Americans Are Owed (The Washington Post 6/16)
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