Lead plaintiff in Indian trust suit says tribes must urge Congress to sign off on settlement

Indian suit plaintiff: Settlement a stepping stone

TOPPENISH, Wash. — The lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that accused the federal government of mismanaging American Indian trust lands says tribal members must urge Congress to quickly sign off on a $3.4 billion settlement.

The Interior Department manages about 56 million acres of trust land and leases the land for mining, grazing and oil and gas production. Money from those leases is distributed to more than 384,000 individual Indian accounts and about 2,700 tribal accounts.

A lawsuit filed in 1996 claimed the government has mismanaged those assets.

Lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont., says the settlement won’t solve the overall problem but is a stepping stone toward improvement.

Cobell visited the Yakama Indian Reservation on Tuesday, one of several stops in the Northwest this week to discuss the settlement with tribes. More than 100 people attended.