And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Indian Trust Documents Questioned .c The Associated Press By PHILIP BRASHER WASHINGTON (AP) -- A court-appointed investigator found the government still handles American Indian trust records carelessly more than three months after two Cabinet officials were held in contempt of court over them. In a report issued Monday, the official said trust documents are stored in ``patently substandard conditions'' at several Bureau of Indian Affairs offices he inspected recently. At Anadarko, Okla., records were kept in wooden sheds. Files were spilled loosely around and stuffed in unmarked boxes strewn among truck tires, the report said. Alan Balaran was appointed a special master in a lawsuit against the government after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in contempt for delaying the turnover of trust records. The judge said he had ``never seen more egregious misconduct'' by the government. The lawsuit alleges the government has been mishandling the accounts for decades. They include 300,000 accounts held by individual Indians, subjects of the lawsuit, and an additional 1,600 tribal accounts worth $2.5 billion. The money includes lease revenue, royalties and court settlements. Balaran recommended the judge order safeguarding of the documents. ``The absence of an order affirmatively mandating the preservation of Indian trust records risks the possibility that the deficiencies ... will continue unchecked and that the opportunity for a meaningful accounting will be forever lost,'' Balaran wrote. Bureau of Indian Affairs officials say trust records are kept in 108 offices, and it takes time to ensure that all have proper storage. Balaran visited a dozen offices in April and said most were ``models of efficiency.'' ``It's a big job,'' said BIA spokesman Rex Hackler. ``I think we're doing very well in most places. There's always a way to do better.'' The Interior Department released a memorandum dated June 2 that ordered all its agencies to ensure preservation of Indian fund records they might hold. Records have been lost or ruined over the years, and ownership of reservation property has been divided so often through inheritances that only a few cents a year passes through many of the accounts, officials say. Lawyers for the plaintiffs claim the government could be liable for billions of dollars in underpayments to account holders. While making no estimates, Bureau of Indian Affairs officials have acknowledged that the liability could be substantial. The bureau is to start using a new computer system this month for handling the accounts. The lawsuit is to be tried in two phases, with the first trial set to begin Thursday. On Monday, the judge declined a request by government attorneys to appoint a mediator in the case, because lawyers for the plaintiffs said they prefer a trial. <<end excerpt Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
