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I do have details but I can't provide them on a public forum since most of the parties are subject to confidentiality agreements. But the modern computer systems you speak of would be news to the last two Interior Secretaries who cancelled IT contracts because they were too costly to convert them to a standard which would allow them to interact with Treasury or Ag Departments.

I've hired two past BIA Commissioners and one Asst Commissioner. I'm pretty familiar with the downfalls of having Indian employees presiding over Indian Affairs simply because they are Indians. But I haven't dealt with a tribe yet who knew how much money they were due and because of that you have generations of people who aren't keeping track and BIA who didn't keep track. The money is all somewhere but the ledgers are further from accurate than Enron finances in many, many cases. Considering how the Federal government loses $1B a year just in the IRS alone, losing billions isn't exactly lowering the bar for the Interior Department.

But the modern computer systems you speak of would be news to the last two Interior Secretaries who cancelled IT contracts because they were too costly to convert them to a standard which would allow them to interact with Treasury or Ag Departments.

I can tell you that MMS has developed two state of the art computer systems that are internet based and do interact with Treasury. Since MMS collects the lion's share of the monies, not sure what you are referring to. BLM likewise has developed a new system (at a tremendous cost). BIA's system, to the best of my knowledge is quite alive and well. All three connect with each other and with OST. Not sure why they need to connect to Agriculture, so cannot answer that one.

But I haven't dealt with a tribe yet who knew how much money they were due and because of that you have generations of people who aren't keeping track and BIA who didn't keep track.

I can tell you that all Indian monies go into an interest bearing account. Each check is marked for either a specific tribe or allotted. Each month, every tribe and state gets a statement of account showing exactly where the funds came from and all details of the transactions. Many of the tribes participate in audits of the payors. The tribes are directly involved in policy by being members of the State and Tribal Audit Committee, and in addition participate fully in quarterly high level policy meetings with MMS. Finally, the MMS, BLM, BIA and tribes participate in a quarterly policy meeting strictly for Indian issues. All tribes and Allottee representatives have access to the data bases, and all tribes are participants in the development of rules, software development, policy and all other changes. Lastly, tribes can request and be granted compacts, where they are paid to collect their own royalties.

The money is all somewhere but the ledgers are further from accurate than Enron finances in many, many cases. Considering how the Federal government loses $1B a year just in the IRS alone, losing billions isn't exactly lowering the bar for the Interior Department.

As I indicated in an earlier post, I can't speak for the 1800s, but I do know that all Indian money that comes in is fully controlled and tracked from either the check or EFT until taken by the tribe. All monies for oil and gas and rentals are controlled by MMS. BIA approves leases, and they are managed by BLM. You can suggest that billion have been lost in Interior, but it would be helpful for you to show how. No evidence of any loss of funds has ever been provided by any tribes or allottee associations. Because of the record keeping problems of 50 years ago and earlier, back to the 1800s, the allottees are claiming $178 billion as "damages", but are willing to accept $27 billion. The only audit of allottee accounts back to 1909 showed that a total $67 was mispaid. For the past 30 years, the Indian and state accounts have been under a microscope by internal auditors, the IG, GAO, and several congressional committees.