Cobell Lawsuit & Settlement

Montana tribal members among those owed Cobell funds

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Over 1,600 members of two Montana tribes are among those owed money from the $3.4 billion Cobell trust fund settlement.

But the money can't go to the 728 members of the Blackfeet Nation and the 900 members of the Fort Peck Tribes because their whereabouts are unknown. Some $1.735 million is at stake.

“One of the issues in the lawsuit was it was mismanaged and they didn’t know the location of a large number of people," attorney David Smith told The Missoula Independent, referring to the federal government's failure to keep track of Indian beneficiaries.

Overall, more than 30,000 people are listed as whereabouts unknown. Some $32 million is owed to these beneficiaries.

Some people might find their name on the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians website. Others can go to IndianTrust.Com and contact the Garden City Group, the administrator of the settlement, with updated information.

“We literally get dozens of calls each day,” Smith told the Independent. “We’re finding over 1,000 [Whereabouts Unknown] a month.”

Get the Story:
Thousands of Cobell settlement recipients in Montana have yet to be located (The Missoula Independent 1/14)