Colville Tribes to disperse $13.4 million to its members

NESPELEM – The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation will distribute its portion of a $940 million settlement with the U.S. Department of the Interior to members next Monday.

The Colville Tribes will receive $13.4 million, and each enrolled member of the tribe is expected to receive $1,410, according to a news release from the Colville Business Council.

The Ramah settlement resolves a legal dispute in which tribes across the country claimed that the Interior department underpaid the contract support costs for tribal agencies from 1994 through 2013.

The tribes sought to recover money that tribes paid for overhead costs in contracts with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service.