$554 million for Navajo Dine, US sign historic settlement agreement sept 27, 2014 By Kathy Helms DinBureau navajo1@gallupindependent WINDOW ROCK — Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell Friday announced the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Navajo Nation regarding the U.S. government’s management of funds and natural resources that it holds in trust for the Navajo Nation. Jewell, accompanied by Interior and U.S. Department of Justice officials, attended a commemorative signing ceremony in Window Rock, where they were joined by Navajo Nation officials. The $554 million settlement — the largest in Indian Country — resolves a long-standing dispute, with some of the claims dating back more than 50 years, and brings to an end protracted litigation that has burdened both the Navajo Nation and the United States. “Leadership is about embracing change and moving forward,” Jewell said. “Change is difficult. Leadership is difficult. Leadership is the only ship that doesn’t sail into a safe port during a storm. And we’ve had some storms here in Navajo Country with the U.S. government — storms that have gone on for a long time. This is a time for a beautiful sunny day, it’s a time for calm winds, it’s a time to move forward and to work together.” The settlement reflects the Interior’s continuing commitment to upholding the federal trust responsibility to Indian Country and to building strong, prosperous and resilient tribal communities, Jewell said. “The historic agreement strengthens the government-togovernment relationship between the United States and the Navajo Nation, helps restore a positive working relationship with the Nation’s leaders and empowers Navajo communities,” she said. “The landmark Cobell settlement and resolution of 80 other tribal trust management lawsuits under President Obama has opened a new chapter in federal trust relations with tribes and individual Indian beneficiaries.” Protracted battle Navajo Nation Attorney General Harrison Tsosie said a case such as the trust mismanagement litigation requires proof. “That is what the attorneys worked on for years, since 2006, to gather the evidence and the proof to be able to say, ‘Yes, these wrongs should be compensable.’” Louis Denetsosie was the attorney general and Tsosie was deputy attorney general in 2006 when they went to the Navajo Nation Council to recommend the lawsuit. Since that time, Deputy Attorney General Dana Bobroff has worked on the case extensively, along with many staff attorneys and support staff, Tsosie said. Lorenzo Curley, chair of the Naa’bik’iyati’ Committee Trust Mismanagement Litigation Task Force, thanked the dignitaries from Washington for coming to Navajo and for making an effort “to make past historical mismanagement of our resources whole again.” Without Navajo Nation employees working to recoup testimonial documents, Curley said, “we wouldn’t be here today to celebrate this.” New opportunities Navajo Nation Council Speaker Pro Tem Lorenzo Bates said the agreement between the Navajo Nation and the United States signifies an opportunity for the Navajo people. “It presents an opportunity in such a way for our government and our people to work together to determine how the benefits of this agreement can and will help our Nation to prosper, now and in the long term,” he said. “In recent weeks, many Diné citizens have asked how the money will be spent, how it will be used and who will benefit. First and foremost, I want to assure the Navajo people, you will have an opportunity to share your thoughts and recommendations as to how the Nation can best utilize these funds when public hearings are held.” Bates said the first hearing will be Oct. 6 in Chinle. “Secondly, I want our people to know that there are procedures and provisions in place to ensure that the funds are secured until a careful strategy is in place and implemented,” he said. Although Navajo has many immediate needs, he said, “it will be a true exercise of our Nation’s sovereignty as to how we determine the use of these funds, and it is my belief that our Nation’s leadership will see to it that it benefits all of our people for years to come.” Trapped in history Kevin Washburn, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs and a professor on leave from the University of New Mexico School of Law, said, “Lawyers, they learn to fight for their people. They fight for their clients and they do that well. But they can also find agreement. And today we celebrate in part, the fact that the lawyers and the leadership found agreement so that we can move forward together.” Sam Hirsch, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resource Division, said that for decades the United States and Indian tribes have struggled — sometimes sideby- side and sometimes at odds — to resolve, with finality, long-standing problems related to the United States’ management of tribal funds and resources. “In that context, the Navajo Nation pursued its own claims for past failures, most recently in a lawsuit raising deficiencies that spanned decades and addressed the entire breadth of the Navajo Nation’s funds and resources,” Hirsch said. “That litigation, unfortunately, stood in the way of furthering the relationship between the United States and the Navajo Nation. “As the novelist James Baldwin once wrote: ‘People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them.’ In some ways, this statement might characterize the greater part of the historical relationship between the United States and Indian Country. But today we come together to move beyond the worst parts of that history and to embrace the future.” Embracing the future Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly, citing the settlement and the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, said, “The Navajo Nation and the federal government are moving ever so slowly to a true partnership to solve our problems and our differences. Please, go a little faster. Our young people are here and they’re bored. They want to be involved in the government, they want to have jobs, they want to have what the American dream is all about.” Shelly said he was a delegate when the legal battle began in 2006. “The Navajo Nation sued the federal government to file a claim for mismanagement of some of our trust assets or trust spending,” he said. “The $554 million represents more than just the end of a legal battle. It is not just fulfilling the trust responsibility of our trustee, nor is it full compensation for the loss of revenue that was caused by the federal government’s action over decades. This settlement marks a turning point in our relationship with the federal government, and I’m hoping to see that before Obama leaves.” Money from the settlement, which should be available by the end of the year, will provide Navajo with the ability to deliver services, infrastructure and development, according to the president. He said the settlement means Navajo is taking a step forward to self-sufficiency. “The way forward for the Navajo Nation, as with all Indian Country, is to develop our ability to stand on our own and rely less on the federal government to provide for our people,” Shelly said. Adron Gardner/Independent Interior Secretary Sally Jewell greets visitors upon arrival for the start of the trust settlement agreement signing ceremony in Window Rock Friday. Adron Gardner/Independent A crowd gathers for the trust settlement agreement signing ceremony in Window Rock Friday.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 02:28:45 +0000
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