http://www.npr.org/2012/11/30/166185...tlement-checks
Quote:
Federal officials are working to send out $1,000 checks in the next few weeks to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans. The money stems from a settlement of the Cobell case, a landmark $3.4 billion settlement over mismanagement of federal lands held in trust for Native American people.
The case was brought by Elouise Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe, and four other Native Americans in 1996.
On South Dakota's Native American reservations, reactions are mixed. The checks will help Native Americans deal with the challenges of intense poverty during the cold winter months, but some say the government is still shortchanging those who were cheated out of royalties for decades.
|
I have a lot of issues with the reserve system in Canada, and some of the treaty rights that have extended long past their best before dates, but Native Americans in the United States have been getting the shaft for about 500 years now. This is another slap in the face, IMO.