Feds reach $940 million tribal settlement

The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that a $940 million proposed settlement has been reached with Native American tribes and tribal entities that would resolve a 25-year-old legal dispute related to contract support costs for tribal agencies.

It now must be approved by the federal court system. The proposed settlement would address claims that the U.S. government contracted with tribes to run programs but did not pay the full amounts required by law. It claims that the government contracted with tribes and tribal agencies to run Bureau of Indian Affairs programs such as law enforcement, forest management, fire suppression, road maintenance, housing, federal education and other support programs but failed to appropriate sufficient funds to pay the costs under the agreements. Each class member that is eligible for a share of the settlement must file a claim form, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Class counsel will retain a settlement administrator that will mail the claim forms to each class member...more