Native Americans Getting Final Settlement Payments
Hundreds of thousands of Native Americans across the nation have started
receiving the final cash payments this week from one of the largest
government settlements in U.S. history.
Checks ranging from $869 to nearly $10 million were sent beginning
Monday to more than 493,000 people by the administrators of the $3.4
billion settlement.
The settlement is from a class-action lawsuit filed in 1996 by Elouise
Cobell of Browning. Cobell sued after finding the government squandered
billions of dollars in royalties for land it held in trust for
individual Indians that was leased for development, exploration or
agriculture.
Cobell died of cancer in 2011, after more than 15 years of doggedly
pursuing the lawsuit, rallying Native Americans and lobbying members of
Congress for its approval.
