Richnorth, unFunny amazing those red-white-blue flag waving
Americans of the United States on this thread are very quite
without a peep of distaste towards their (and mine) government
when its so clear criminal corruption takes place "without end"
as they can only tell me and non-American's that we are stepping
on the shiny clean shoes of Uncle Sam. -puke-
.
"We have to be strong..." --Native American
(or)
This week a federal judge held Interior Secretary Gale Norton
in contempt for failing to comply with his orders
to fix problems with the US Indian trust fund. So tonight..."
.
Subj: UPCLOSE UPDATE: Eloise Cobell
Date: 9/20/02 8:36:33 PM EST
From: listeditor@abcnews.go.com (UpClose)
.
Because NIGHTLINE postponed its profile of Don Francisco due to breaking
news in the Middle East, UpClose will also postpone its conversation with
Don Francisco. Tonight, an update of a profile we aired earlier this
summer.
.
"I swear I am not going to let them break my spirit, I'm not going to let
them break my son's spirit, I'm not going to let them break my
grandchildren's spirit. We have to be strong..." --Native American
activist Elouise Cobell on her suit against the federal government
.
Sometimes looks can be deceiving. You'd never suspect that a 5-foot-4
banker who never finished college would win one of those MacArthur
"genius" awards and take on the federal government through sheer grit and
determination. But as Nightline Producer Jay Lamonica first discovered a
few years back, looks are indeed deceiving:
.
Elouise Cobell is mild-mannered and polite. Cobell has spent most of her
life on the Blackfeet reservation in northwest Montana. She's a mother, a
rancher and she helped start the first tribal-owned bank on a reservation.
She's also suing the federal government for billions of dollars... and so
far she's winning.
.
She was one of nine children who lived in a small house without
electricity, plumbing or telephone. She grew up listening to stories about
her ancestor, Mountain Chief, the last hereditary leader of the Blackfeet,
and how the Blackfeet ruled the northern plains and followed the huge
herds of buffalo. Then the white man came, the buffalo were exterminated
and the Blackfeet were herded onto the reservation. One of the stories she
heard was what happened on Ghost Ridge during the winter of 1883-4. The US
government promised to supply winter rations to the Blackfeet, who had
been disarmed and confined to the reservation. Instead, the food was sold
on the black market and more than 500 Blackfeet starved to death. They are
buried in a mass grave on Ghost Ridge.
.
Cobell heard other stories when she was younger. The land that had been
given to individual Indians, including her parents, was to be held in
trust for them by the US government who would rent it out to mining, oil,
timber and grazing interests and then pass along the money to the
landowners. No one was sure how much they were supposed to get and in many
cases, even where their land was located. Payments have been intermittent
and seemingly random. The government provided with little or no
information about their holdings or the money held in trust for them.
.
Cobell is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against the federal
government filed six years ago. The judge in the case, Royce Lamberth, has
said he "has never seen more egregious conduct" by the federal government
which has "engaged in a shocking pattern of deception of the court." Two
Cabinet members were held in contempt of court in 1999 for not producing
the trust documents as ordered by the judge. A fine of more than $600,000
was paid and the government has admitted that many of the documents have
been destroyed or are lost. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton is now on
trial for contempt in the case.
.
The judge also ruled the government had not lived up to its trust
obligation. Another trial will be held to determine how much the
plaintiffs should receive. Cobell estimates up to $137 billion is
unaccounted for since 1887.
.
This week a federal judge held Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt
for failing to comply with his orders to fix problems with the US Indian
trust fund. So tonight,
Sam Donaldson talks with Elouise Cobell. Don't be fooled by her genteel
manner. She's fiercely determined to force the government to, as she puts
it, "do the right thing." If you think you've heard all about the plight
of Native Americans, you haven't met Elouise Cobell.
.
Richard Harris
Senior Producer
Nightline UpClose |
