Posted on 05/22/2010 12:03:53 PM PDT by JoeProBono
BROWNING, Mont. (AP) -- Elouise Cobell sat behind her cluttered desk here in the windblown heart of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and peered at a visitor through dark glasses that couldn't quite hide the deep bruise that ran down her cheek to her jaw.
Her appearance made her a bit self-conscious, offering an unexpected glimpse of a woman who had built a reputation for fearlessness after 14 years standing toe-to-toe with the federal government in an attempt to recover billions of dollars of squandered Indian trust money.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
There is no more money
Abandoned Trailer-Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Montana, USA
Sounds like a whole lot of government corruption. People should go to jail over this.
She’ll have to wait until Obama prints some more money.
Looks like another minority group votes are being bought by the democrats in time for the November election. The goverment should hand her a bill for the billions in welfare and medicaid payment made toward the Indian community, then say they will take the $3.4 billion as a down payment.
I doubt an investigation into the wrong doing will ever take place. It is interesting that Bush (who probably got few, if any Indian votes) attempted to get talks going.
Anyway, good for her in fighting the corruption. Reminds me o Sarah P. taking on the oil companies in Alaska.
As to welfare payments, I am sure they would pay them back so long as we all left the continent.
An enormous amout of money, held in trust by both the US Treasury and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, from the sale of Indian lands, etc. is in truth missing. In this case, the Indians have a perfectly legitiment complaint.
First I heard of this, and I am glad they are at least getting some compensation. The Blackfoot woman is a heroine. I knew a fellow (Indian extraction) who mysteriously got a $10,000 gov’t check (along with his other siblings) some 30 or more years ago now. Turned out it was from land belonging to his dead Grandmother, which had been appropriated somehow, and was now pumping out lots of oil. He was just delighted to get the money...I always wondered if he got swindled.
Democrats have never in history HAD to buy votes from Indian tribes. All they have to do is promise them something every now and then. Not deliver, they never do that, just promise. I know as I’m an Indian and my tribe as well as most tribes vote about 90% democrat, if not more. Sometimes when I see the Indian bashing here on FR, I know why they do it.
I agree with you 100 percent.
Makes you wonder other horrors our government is perpetrating.
When Marilyn checked on the origin of the grant, she was stunned to learn that there is a large grant and support program that is supposed to be handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but is rarely used since most of the Indians don't know it exists and those who do get frustrated by all of the red tape they have to wade through in order to get anything accomplished.
What? leave the continent? don’t be absurd
and I suppose you think no “ tribe” ever conquered and destroyed another “ tribe”
I bet you think no tribe ever enslaved another
I bet you think every tribe that defeated another tribe gave the defeated tribe a good life.
If anyone can show me that the “ Blackfeet” never captured and enslaved anyone then I will say we should give them money AFTER we deduct what we have already given them.
Looks like you haven't a clue as to what's been going on for decades.
One of the prime reasons the Indians live in perpetual poverty is because they haven't been allowed the use - and the profits - from their OWN LANDS.
from the get go - when the govt couldn't take their legally owned lands, they decided they would "protect" the "ignorant" Indians by managing their land FOR them. And how do they do this?
They lease the lands to NON-Indians - for pennies - who run VERY profitable ranches, logging, mining outfits off the land and become very rich doing it...the Indians are supposed to, at least, get a fair share made off their own lands that THEY are not allowed to use. (Sweet deal for the non-Indians. They don't have to pay for the land, nor taxes, on land from which they make their fortunes.)
But those fair share profits have NEVER been paid.
Imagine that you have, say, 500 acres of good grazing land or land with valuable ore deposits. But the gov't says you obviously haven't the brains to run a business, so they will lease the land out to someone else - and those leases are pennies on the dollar - and the person the gov't let's use your land, makes fortunes while the gov't sends you a few dollars now and then.
In the meantime, you need food stamps to feed your kids, while others look down on you.
I hope they FINALLY win this. They have fighting for justice for decades and always get blown off.
Not only do they need to finally be paid, the practice the gov't managing their lands needs to end also.
Let the legal owners of the lands use them.
The BIA has been one of the crookedest, vilest government agencies since it's inception - and no one gives a reat as* - including far too many on FR who show a vast ignorance of the history of this practice, tinged with an even deeper ignorant prejudice.
flame away - heaven forbid you should do any honest research.
ignorance
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.