November 12, 2008

"Soul of Indian country" at stake

GAO says trust fund reform key Interior issueAs Native America anxiously awaits a presidential appointment to the Interior Department, a congressional watchdog agency has told President-elect Barack Obama's transition team that Indian trust fund reform is a key issue before the department.

“The soul of Indian Country is at stake,” said Sally Willet, an administrative law judge and Indian Land Working Group consultant. “And the soul of Indian Country is the land base. Trust reform under the current administration has been elimination of programs, services and funding. Nothing has been improved for landowners except possibly getting the wrong balance faster.”

A Government Accountability Office overview lists six primary concerns before the new Interior secretary, including management of Indian trust funds and collection of oil and gas royalties.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Developments related to this important issue (Indian trust fund reform) must be closely monitored during the Obama administration.

The seemingly intractable problems relative to trust fund reform have been essentially unresolved for far too long now, and the Bush administration's indifference to Indian people over the last eight years has caused our communities irreparable harm in many instances.