Washington, DC: The US government has announced that it will pay $3.4 billion to settle allegations that it mismanaged money in American Indian trust funds. The settlement ends a lawsuit that lasted 13 years. The US government was accused of mismanaging revenue that was supposed to be distributed to American Indians-- revenue that was collected off the lease of 56 million acres of Indian trust land.
The settlement will see the government pay $1.4 billion to compensate the Indians for the accounting irregularities. Each member of the class will receive a check for $1,000, with the rest of the money being distributed based on land owned.
The announced settlement does not completely end the lawsuit. Congress must still enact legislation and the federal courts must agree to the settlement before it is finalized.
