Delay in Cobell settlement payout prompts protest in Oklahoma

Tuesday, December 3, 2013  

Indian landowners staged a protest in Oklahoma on Monday after learning that the second payment in the $3.4 billion Cobell trust fund settlement won't be distributed until 2014.

About 30 people held signs outside of the Bureau of Indian Affairs office in Anadarko, KSWO-TV reported. They said they were promised a payout before Christmas.

"We do not want any more delays and we want to be paid," landowner Kathy Ware-Perosi told KSWO. "We are tired of their promises and tired of their lies."

The payment covers the Trust Administration Class of the settlement. The minimum will be $800 but many people will receive more, based on the level of activity in their Individual Indian Money (IIM) account.

The first payment, for the Historical Accounting Class, went out in December 2012. It was for $1,000.

Get the Story:
Native American Settlement Payments Delayed Again (KSWO 12/2)
Checks in Cobell trust suit could go out by first of next year (The Tulsa World 12/3)

Second Cobell payment won't be mailed out before Christmas(12/2)