to pay the rent, yeah, to pay our share.
The time has come…. A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them…. Let’s give it back.
That song – by Aussie band Midnight Oil concerned the relationship of the Australian people and government with the native Aborigines. The song was also a hit here – and my exposure to this band and their politics was, quite honestly, one small part of a larger series of things that helped break me out of a rather “fundie” time in my life and begin to expose me to the suffering of First Nation people’s around the globe.
Our own nation has a long and shameful history with it’s Native people – one we too often ignore. I am increasingly aware of how little I really know about these issues. I recall a speech I heard former Sen. Daschle give (over a year ago) about the state of schools on North Dakota reservations – and one in particular – a building that had been condemned – and was forcibly closed by the local health department because it was in such poor condition. Congress had earmarked funds for a new building. Construction would start in the Spring – of 2007.
That’s beyond shameful. Yet I’ve done nothing about it.
With that as background – I today got an email from Friends Committee on National Legislation. I signed up with their list about peace issues and have never regretted standing with them on any of the issues they’ve chosen to highlight – today they focus on the “Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005 (S. 1439)” It is designed to repay as many as 500,000 American Indians whose money “disappeared” while in government accounts. FCNL says – and I agree “It is morally imperative that this bill be taken seriously by congressional leadership and the White House.” Please jump with me to learn more about this – and what you can do to help… crossposted to MyLeftWing
Text from FCNL email
Indian Families Due Billions; Repayment Possible With Your Action – FCNL
President Bush repeatedly says, “We ought to trust people with their own money.” We encourage him to expand his thinking to include Native Americans whose land profits are held (and withheld) by the federal government. American Indians were not trusted to manage their own money. Instead, the federal government took charge in 1887 but has made such a horrendous mess of the Indian land trust accounts that the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs found it to be one of the two worst government management scandals in U. S. history.
Senators McCain (AZ) and Dorgan (ND) have introduced the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005 (S. 1439) to repay as many as 500,000 American Indians whose money “disappeared” while in government accounts. It is morally imperative that this bill be taken seriously by congressional leadership and the White House.
Act Now: Urge your senators to cosponsor S. 1439 and this one-time opportunity to remedy a stark and long-standing financial injustice. If you senators are already cosponsors, thank them and ask them to talk to their colleagues about this bill.
See FCNL’s web site for a sample letter, http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=7968506. Please take the time to personalize the sample letter and tell your senators who you are and why you care about this issue.
Background: Native families have been deprived of land and lease revenues for over a century, keeping many in stark poverty generation after generation. Financial audits, congressional and Government Accountability Office reports, and media investigations document that billions of dollars have been mismanaged and misappropriated. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals both have ruled in favor of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders during the past decade. The district court judge has held three cabinet officers in contempt of court. At last, Congress is considering paying the debt. FCNL will vigorously support those efforts if the settlements are just. Your help will be crucial if justice is to occur.
Even knowing what we know of the U.S. dismal legacy in Indian affairs, the details of this scandal are still shocking, especially as we learn that abuses continue into the present. Congressional audits as early as 1915 showed mismanaged, lost, and pilfered Indian trust funds. Government agencies such as Interior and Treasury departments also put the money of Indian families into the general funds of the U.S. Frequently, Interior did not bother to collect the land-use money owed to Indian families from corporations or non-natives. Indian land was sold without permission. Even now, hackers can get into Interior computers and the IIM accounts. Since the start of a class action case brought nine years ago by Elouise Cobell to rectify the situation, hundreds of Interior’s boxes of trust records have been lost or destroyed.
Interior officials continue to resist liability and repayment, but many in Congress are practical about “clearing the books” and others are concerned about ethical and legal responsibilities. All agree that reform is needed and some amount of repayment is required. S. 1439 proposes to take the billions owed from the off-budget Claims Judgment Fund which is used when the federal government makes mistakes and loses cases.
For more information, see FCNL’s web site, http://www.fcnl.org/issues/issue.php?issue_id=112
Thanks for reading. I’m hoping that perhaps some of the folks who are far more in tune with Native American issues have some additional insights and links to help those of us who care but don’t have much of a handle on what else we can do to make a difference.
we carry in our hearts, the true country…And that cannot be stolen… We follow in the steps of our ancestry… and that cannot be broken…
Mining companies!
Pastoral companies!
Uranium companies!
Collected companies!
Got more right than people…
Got more say than people…
Forty thousand years can make a difference to the state of things
The dead heart lives here.
My thanks – to both Midnight Oil – and FCNL – for helping to open my eyes.
PS – I’m very open to hearing other viewpoints on this legislation – especially from those better connected with the issue – but like I said – I trust the information I get from FCNL – and felt moved to act and spread the word – even if it exposes my lack of knowledge.
Namaste.
