What Tribes Need to Know About the Quick-Moving
Cobell Settlement

On December 8, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Elouise Cobell jointly announced that the United States and Cobell plaintiffs had entered into a settlement agreement to conclude the decades-old Cobell litigation. The case was filed in 1996 on behalf of a class of Indian plaintiffs who had Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts managed by the Department of the Interior. The plaintiffs sought remedies against the United States resulting from breaches in the management of IIM accounts. Among other things, the Cobell plaintiffs sought an accounting of the trust corpus to determine its value.

The settlement requires the creation of: (1) an Accounting/Trust Administration Fund with an infusion of $1.4 billion to settle individual Indian claims; (2) a Trust Land Consolidation Fund with an infusion of $2 billion; (3) a Secretarial Commission on Trust Reform paid for by money in the Trust Land Consolidation Fund; and (4) a mechanism for unused funds in the settlement to be set aside for Indian education scholarships. The settlement does not require the federal government to admit fault and it resolves all individual Indians’ IIM-related claims that have or could have accrued as of the date of the settlement. 

For more information, read the full article available on the Northwest Indian Law & Business Advisor.

About the Author

Quanah Spencer is Of Counsel in the Seattle office. His practice is focused on public policy in both the local and national arenas. Prior to joining Williams Kastner, Mr. Spencer, an enrolled Yakama tribal member, worked as a public policy lawyer for the Yakama Nation, Coeur d'Alene Tribe and the National Congress of American Indians.

Contact Information

Quanah M. Spencer
Two Union Square
601 Union Street, Suite 4100
P.O. Box 21926
Seattle, Washington 98101

Phone: 206-628-2783
Fax: 206-628-6611
Email: qspencer@williamskastner.com
 

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