And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: "Victor Rocha" Babbitt: New computer system historic point in government-tribal relations By BOB ANEZ Associated Press Writer BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- In what he called a historic event, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt on Friday launched the federal government's new computer system for tracking $3 billion in trust accounts that his agency manages for American Indian tribes and tribal members. The $60 million project, introduced at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office here, is meant to address decades of mismanagement of the accounts, which critics say may have shortchanged Indians and tribes by billions of dollars. The money comes from leases and royalties on Indian land and from court settlements. Estimates of the sums government may owe Indians are "wildly overstated," Babbitt said Friday, adding that the issue is less important than the Interior Department meeting its trust commitment to Indians. "I don't know if it's $10 million or $100 million," he said. "The dollar figures are manageable." The inauguration of the Trust Asset and Accounting Management System comes as the government defends itself in a class-action lawsuit filed by some account holders that contends the mishandling of the accounts has resulted in underpayments to Indians. The BIA handles 300,000 individual Indian accounts worth $500 million and another 1,600 tribal accounts worth $2.5 billion. The accounts have been plagued by inadequate bookkeeping and information systems, and records have been lost or ruined over the years. The new computer system, condemned by the General Accounting Office as haphazard and possibly unworkable, is supposed to give Indians and tribes better access to their records, and link land ownership files with financial records. "This event is going to turn out to be one of the important moments in the history of government-tribal relations," Babbitt told a gathering of agency officials and tribal leaders from Montana and Wyoming. Problems with the accounts have their roots in what he called "one of the most misguided acts in all of U.S. history." He was referring to a law passed in the late 1880s that allotted reservation land to individual tribal members and began a process in which much of the land ended up in a patchwork of nontribal ownership. As land titles changed hands through inheritance, the government has had trouble keep tabs on ownership and the revenue due owners from use of the land. The law was "nothing less than a subterfuge to open up reservations for sale," Babbitt said. "It was a dagger in the heart of Indian culture." Improving the record-keeping system will make it easier to gradually restore land to tribal ownership, he said. Babbitt conceded the poor condition of some account records means the new computer system will not be totally accurate. "There is no such thing as 100 percent certainty; there is 99 percent certainty," he said. Babbitt accused the news media of sensationalizing the government's potential liability in the pending lawsuit, but declined to say what figure might be reasonable. Congress has called trust-account management a disgrace for years, but has never before provided money to do something about the problem, noted Kevin Gover, assistant Interior secretary for Indian affairs. "The tribes and individual Indian account holders deserve a system that works," he said. Gover denied allegations by lawsuit plaintiffs that the computer system was introduced in Montana to avoid national media scrutiny. The Billings BIA office, which serves tribes in Montana and Wyoming, was chosen because it handles tribal revenues from a variety of sources -- oil and gas royalties, mineral production, grazing and agriculture leases and timber harvesting, he said. The computer system will undergo testing here for two months before it is introduced in other parts of the country. The project is expected to be complete by 2001, when the system will be used in 250 BIA and tribal offices. Given the history of mishandling the accounts, Gover said, tribes and BIA employees are understandably wary about the computer system. "They have a right to be skeptical and to hold our feet to the fire," he said, adding that tribal support is growing. Clara Nomee, chairwoman of the Crow Tribe, said she was encouraged by the government's willingness to uphold its trust duties to Indians. Ernie Robinson of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council said he was excited that the system is being tested in this region. "This is a lot more efficient. At last, this is a positive effort to deal with the issue," Robinson said. He also said Indians are willing to believe the promises of federal officials because many are familiar and trusted faces. "Some of the people involved in this project are people we have confidence in," Robinson said. http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi?N6.HTML 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/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
