Feds agree to $940M settlement with tribes

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Obama administration has agreed to pay hundreds of Native American tribes nearly $1 billion to settle a decades-old claim that the government failed to adequately compensate tribes while they managed education, law enforcement and other federal services.

The Interior Department announced the proposed $940 million agreement in Albuquerque on Thursday along with leaders from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Zuni Pueblo and Ramah Chapter of the Navajo Nation. They were among the lead plaintiffs in a contract-dispute lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 600 tribes and tribal agencies. They brought the case in 2012 before the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices ruled for the tribes.

They had argued underfunded federal contracts dating as far back as the 1970s often left them to face shortfalls as they tried to meet critical needs in their communities, ranging from health services to housing.

The settlement still must be approved in federal district court.

“Deep and painful cuts were made every year,” said Val Panteah, governor of Zuni Pueblo, resulting in what he described as “a financial death spiral” for his community in eastern New Mexico. He said poverty, inadequate health care and education present major challenges for the pueblo.

Oglala President John Yellow Bird Steele said the $940 million negotiated with the government was a fair settlement for tribes.

The Interior’s proposed payout would represent the latest in a series of recent major settlements addressing years of legal disputes between tribes and the federal government.