• Home
  • Login
  • Register
  • Digital Edition
  • About Us
  • Staff
  • Obituaries
South Florida Times
  • News
    • Around South Florida
    • Black News
    • Local News
    • National & World
    • Caribbean News
    • Opinion
    • Prayerful Living
    • Ex-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to join White House

      Associated Press, June 29, 2022
    • Ransom Everglades School appoints David Clark as COO, interim head

      Staff Report, June 29, 2022
    • Brilliant entrepreneur shatters glass ceiling to start human resource business

      S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022
  • Business
    • Special Olympics drops vaccine rule after $27 million fine threat

      Associated Press, June 17, 2022
    • OECD slashes global economic outlook on Russia-Ukraine war

      S. Florida Times, June 17, 2022
    • Senate approves Lisa Cook as first Black woman to Fed post

      S. Florida Times, June 17, 2022
  • Finance
    • Insurance
    • Credit
    • Loans
    • Trading
    • Mortgage
    • Donate
    • 22 grassroots projects in Black and Brown communities win Mobilize Grants from The Carrie Meek Foundation

      Staff Report, May 2, 2022
    • No-cost support for small business owners

      Staff Report, January 27, 2022
    • Biden /Harris Victory

      Robert Beatty, November 7, 2020
  • Politics
    • State
    • Local
    • National
    • International
    • Elections
    • Debate Night in America: Muted Mics Could Interrupt Trump’s Style

      zenger.news, October 22, 2020
    • Trump or Biden: Venezuelans in U.S. Debate Impact of Presidential Election

      zenger.news, October 21, 2020
    • Fugitive Drug Dealer Captured Despite Plastic Surgery, New Identity

      zenger.news, October 20, 2020
  • Technology
    • Software Review
    • Hosting
    • Gas/Electricity
    • Small Business
    • VOIP Solutions
    • The hottest cars for 2022 The hottest cars for 2022

      S. Florida Times, January 27, 2022
    • Hertz order for Teslas ranks among biggest-ever EV purchases

      Associated Press, November 2, 2021
    • BROWARD App gives graduates virtual reality diploma

      S. Florida Times, June 20, 2020
  • Education
    • Classes
    • College
    • Degree
    • FIU
    • HBCU
    • High school
    • Online classes
    • Miami-dade
    • Students get to fast-track at Broward College

      Staff Report, February 10, 2022
    • FIU President Mark Rosenberg resigns

      Staff Report, January 27, 2022
    • Documentary tracks lives of Black Wisconsin students

      S. Florida Times, November 12, 2021
  • SoFLO Live
    • Chef Ire
    • Calendar
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Books
    • Music
    • Movies
    • SoFlo LiVE

      S. Florida Times, September 3, 2021
    • SUSTAINABLE, VERSATILE, GLOBAL, DELICIOUS: Honey’s got buzz

      Associated Press, March 1, 2020
    • 5-YEAR-OLD DRUMMER garners attention, college scholarships

      Associated Press, March 1, 2020
  • Health
    • Kids Nutrition
    • Health Jobs
    • Insurance
    • Weight Loss
    • Pet Health
    • Tribeca ’22 goes full frame

      S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022
    • Using Alcohol, Cannabis Together Is Ill­Advised

      S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022
    • Retailers getting heat for cashing in on Juneteenth

      S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022
  • Special Sections
    • Hurricane Guide
    • Summer Camp Guide
    • Back To School
    • Black History
    • Business & Finance
    • Martin Luther King Jr.
    • Mother’s Day
    • Season of the Arts
    • JOURNEY INTO JOURNALISM a black woman books it

      Associated Press, March 13, 2020
    • Right to Vote focus of Spoken Soul Festival

      Staff Report, March 13, 2020
    • Stokely: A woman’s day is every day

      CB HANIF, March 13, 2020
  • Blogs
    • Beatnik24

Tribeca ’22 goes full frame

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022

Using Alcohol, Cannabis Together Is Ill­Advised

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022

Retailers getting heat for cashing in on Juneteenth

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022

Obituaries

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022

George Lamming, 94, giant of modern Caribbean writing

Associated Press, June 29, 2022

Mississippi, Alabama mourners praise policeman killed on duty

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022

Ex-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to join White House

Associated Press, June 29, 2022

Ransom Everglades School appoints David Clark as COO, interim head

Staff Report, June 29, 2022
Finance

American Indian groups argue over settlement money


SHARE ON:
Associated Press — December 2, 2014
By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON — American Indian groups are fighting a plan to create a new charitable foundation with more than $380 million in federal money left over from a 2011 government discrimination settlement.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on Tuesday was to review a proposal by plaintiff’s attorneys to form the new foundation with money unexpectedly left over after the Obama administration settled a class-action suit filed by American Indian farmers. The farmers said they had lost out on decades of farm loans because of government discrimination.

If the judge eventually approves it, the foundation could be the largest charity Indian country has ever seen. The judge is not expected to make a final decision until next year.

The settlement agreement approved three years ago calls for any leftover money to be distributed to American Indian farmer organizations, but the lawyers said none of those groups was set up to handle so much money — thus the idea for one large foundation, headed by Indian leaders, says Joseph Sellers, the lead lawyer for the American Indian plaintiffs.

The government has not opposed the plan, but American Indian groups — including the plaintiffs themselves — have split with the lawyers originally representing them and opposed the idea, saying the money should be spread out among existing American Indian charities as originally intended or the case should be reopened for another round of claims.

George and Marilyn Keepseagle, the lead plaintiffs in the case first filed in 1999, wrote Sullivan two letters earlier this year saying they felt like they had taken a “back of the bus” role as the lawyers and the court — or the “suits” as the Keepseagles referred to them in their letter — decided what to do with the money.

“Being discriminated against is an ugly feeling,” the Keepseagles wrote in a March letter to Sullivan. “A feeling that non-Indian suits or lawyers have no clue, unless a large sum of money is entailed and then all the suits suddenly get it and go to work and determine what is best for Indians.”

The Keepseagles say the remaining money should be redistributed to the members of the class-action suit, including themselves. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma has petitioned the court to allow the money to be distributed to existing charities as the settlement originally called for, submitting its own charity plan to the court. Another group, the newly formed Association of American Indian Farmers, is calling for a second round of claims.

The government hasn’t agreed to any of those options, so all parties are waiting to see how Sullivan handles the case.

It was difficult for the government to pay out claims because the Agriculture Department did not keep records of who was denied loans, Sellers says. And it turned out that many potential recipients had died, lost any evidence of discrimination or felt too distrustful of the government to even apply. Lawyers expected around 10,000 people to file claims, but the number was around half that.

Some of the American Indian groups say that process may not be the most efficient way to direct the settlement to farmers who for years struggled to farm while government loans went to white neighbors.

“It should be paid to farmers directly, not to indirect services provided by nonprofits,” said Kara Brewer Boyd, president of the Association of American Indian Farmers.

The original lawsuit, named after the Keepseagles of Fort Yates, North Dakota, was filed in 1999. It was based on a similar lawsuit settled between the government and black farmers around the same time. After more than a decade in the court, the government offered the $680 million settlement in October 2010.

 

Next post Rand Paul to run for Senate re-election in 2016

Previous post Top German court blocks hacker's extradition to US

Associated Press

About the Author Associated Press

Related Posts

22 grassroots projects in Black and Brown communities win Mobilize Grants from The Carrie Meek Foundation

Staff Report, May 2, 2022

No-cost support for small business owners

Staff Report, January 27, 2022

Biden /Harris Victory

Robert Beatty, November 7, 2020

No Comment

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

"Elevating the dialogue"Headline News

South Florida Times

Ex-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to join White House

Associated Press, June 29, 2022
News

Ransom Everglades School appoints David Clark as COO, interim head

Staff Report, June 29, 2022
News

Brilliant entrepreneur shatters glass ceiling to start human resource business

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022
News

Air Pros USA welcomes CFO Outram

Staff Report, June 29, 2022
Local News

DeSantis vetoes challenge Black lawmakers

S. Florida Times, June 29, 2022
Local News

South Florida Times

The most influential African American weekly newspaper in South Florida

Beatty Media LLC

Follow Us

South Florida Times

3,067
followers
4,052
likes

Videos

South Florida Times

Home values for Black Families

Staff Report, March 23, 2022
Local NewsNewsVideos
Copyright 2020 Beatty Media, LLC.
↑ Back to top