US government settles $1.4-billion class action suit by American Indians

The US government decided yesterday to close a 13-year litigation and pay $1.4 billion to hundreds of thousands of individual Native Americans for allegedly mismanaging acres of land and millions of dollars that it held in trust for them.

Welcoming the closure of the 1996 Cobell v. Salazar suit, the largest class action law suit ever brought against the US government, US department of justice attorney general Eric Holder said, ''The settlement announced yesterday, which will require legislative and judicial approval to become effective, is fair to the plaintiffs, responsible for the US, and provides a path forward for the future.''

The massive litigation had seen 7 full trials constituting 192 trial days, that resulted in 22 published judicial decisions, had gone up to the Court of Appeals 10 times; and has been the subject of  fierce and contentious litigation.

US President Barack Obama praised the settlement as "an important step towards a sincere reconciliation" between the federal government and some 300,000 NAtive American beneficiaries of the lawsuits.

The class action suit brought by Native Americans in 1996 claims that the US federal government mismanaged "acres of land and millions of dollars" under 19th century laws that divided up Indian land into small parcels held in trust and managed by the department of the interior for individual native Americans.

Section 5 of the Dawes Act required the US government to hold the allotted tribal lands, which were divided into parcels of between 40 and 160 acres for a period of 25 years, in trust for the sole use and benefit of the "Red Indian" population to whom such allotment had been made.