WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration says it will spend more than $3 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit over royalties owed to American Indians.
President Barack Obama hailed the settlement of the case as an important step to reconcile Indian tribes and the federal government.
Tribal members are owed royalties for oil, gas, grazing and other leases dating back more than a century.
Under the agreement announced Tuesday, the Interior Department will distribute $1.4 billion to more than 300,000 tribe members to compensate them for historical accounting claims, and to resolve future claims. The department also will spend $2 billion to buy back and consolidate tribal land lost by previous generations.
The settlement also would create a scholarship account of up to $60 million for tribal members to attend college or vocational school.
Elouise Cobell of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe called the proposed settlement crucial for hundreds of thousand of Native Americans who have suffered for more than a century through mismanagement of the Indian trust funds.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKXRM