GET READY! - HERE'S WHAT'S IN STORE FOR HAWAIIANS UNDER FEDERAL RECOGNITION!
U.S. SECRETARY OF INTERIOR GALE NORTON INVITED TO TESTIFY IN FEDERAL COURT TO PROVE SHE DIDN’T RETAILIATE BY WITHHOLDING INDIAN CHECKS
The judge in the landmark Cobell v. Norton Indian Trust case has issued an order inviting U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton to testify in court proceedings to prove she did not retaliate against American Indians by stopping the disbursement of Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust checks in October, 2004.
IIM beneficiaries, many of whom are among our nation’s poorest citizens and rely on Indian Trust payments for most or all of their income, were the victims of the government’s retaliatory actions.
In his February 7th order, Lamberth found such action deplorable.
"These Indians are the poorest minority group in the country," Lamberth wrote in his February 7th memorandum and order.
"The idea that Interior would either instruct or allow BIA to withhold trust payments, and then to stonewall the Indians who dared to ask why, is an obscenity that harkens back to the darkest days of United States-Indian relations."
A full copy of the Judge’s February 7th Memorandum and Order is available at www.indiantrust.com
