Post by Okwes on Feb 13, 2006 11:13:28 GMT -5
Punishing Native Americans wrong
Article Published: 02/12/06, 2:55 am
www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20060212/OPINION01/602120302/1052
No American should be punished for standing up for his rights.
But that's exactly what the U.S. Interior Department is doing to
Native Americans.
In a letter from Associate Deputy Secretary for the Interior James
Cason, tribes were told there would be cuts to Native American
programs so the department could pay $7 million in legal fees as part
of a class-action suit over trust funds.
The suit was filed years ago and charges that the Interior Department
lost or mismanaged as much as $137 billion it collected from people
who lease Indian lands. About 500,000 Native Americans are a part of
the lawsuit, and the department has offered to settle the case for
$27.5 billion.
There's no question the accounting was botched for more than a
century. It's just impossible to tell if the money was lost,
mismanaged or stolen. But it's not in the hands of Native Americans,
to whom it belongs.
Native Americans say the letter is intended to divide tribes. Cason
says it's just a matter of coming up with the $7 million, which the
department doesn't have set aside for legal fees.
It doesn't matter. This is wrong. Americans shouldn't be punished for
standing up for their rights. It's time Congress took over this mess.
Article Published: 02/12/06, 2:55 am
www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20060212/OPINION01/602120302/1052
No American should be punished for standing up for his rights.
But that's exactly what the U.S. Interior Department is doing to
Native Americans.
In a letter from Associate Deputy Secretary for the Interior James
Cason, tribes were told there would be cuts to Native American
programs so the department could pay $7 million in legal fees as part
of a class-action suit over trust funds.
The suit was filed years ago and charges that the Interior Department
lost or mismanaged as much as $137 billion it collected from people
who lease Indian lands. About 500,000 Native Americans are a part of
the lawsuit, and the department has offered to settle the case for
$27.5 billion.
There's no question the accounting was botched for more than a
century. It's just impossible to tell if the money was lost,
mismanaged or stolen. But it's not in the hands of Native Americans,
to whom it belongs.
Native Americans say the letter is intended to divide tribes. Cason
says it's just a matter of coming up with the $7 million, which the
department doesn't have set aside for legal fees.
It doesn't matter. This is wrong. Americans shouldn't be punished for
standing up for their rights. It's time Congress took over this mess.