Elouise Cobell Settlement could have been so much more

The "Cobell settlement" which is on the mouths of landowners as the "Cobell Sellout" will forever go down in history as one of the pivotal points at which justice was once again used to tease Indians. Like a piece of meat held too high for a starving dog to snatch.

The Cobell Sellout was analyzed and at first was embraced by all as a good effort to "make" the Federal Government show how much we were owed.

If you "Lose the Initiative" on the battlefield, you are prone to seek out any new goal far short of what your objective originally was. Suddenly just living seems so much more appeasing than actually following through with your mission.

So it is with the Cobell Sellout. We were all behind her when she had the vision before her to compel an accounting. Maybe 10 years into it, maybe 13 years into it, she lost the initiative. And now we are all being forced into a pen of acceptance for a pittance of what is really owed and everybody in the Federal Government knows it. We are forced into an acceptance of a pitiful settlement while the memory of a "Compelling Accounting" for what we are owed, is now forever forgotten. The original objective sits on the memory map of so many who are now poised to lose that one chance to show that our generations before us were wronged, our ancestors suffered and the proof was forthcoming.

The Cobell Sellout could have contained so much more. As she shared in Indian Country Today, Angelique Eagle Woman had an idea for where this could have been steered. It would appear that when President Obama signs the Settlement legislation, Eagle Woman's and our hopes for "major positive sustainable changes" will forever go down in history with scant explanation or time due for positive dialogue.

Eagle Woman's "Remediation, Accounting, an Apology, and a More Just Monetary Compensation Plan" will go down, ignored with the pleas from the landowners who are in abundance, who do not support this poor excuse for a settlement, despite the questionable terms Cobell team used when they said the "majority of Indian Country" supports this settlement.

In every battlefield, the lieutenant who loses initiative will have a few bold sergeants who will make corrections in the heat of battle because somebody must. Maybe the Commander In Chief will take note of a select few shining examples of some brilliant leaders in the field of Indians and take pause to listen, right before he signs the Cobell Sellout.

President Obama's final step before the fall known as the Cobell Settlement

It would seem as if the "forgotten" Native Population will once again be told what is best for them by what would seem to be a non-appointed voice for us all. Reminds one of the treaty-signers and what they gave away for the rest of their respective tribes. Elouise Cobell is set to pull the wool over one of the brightest minds in the Nation, Barack Obama Black Eagle.

When President Obama signs the Cobell Sellout, the Federal Government will breathe a giant sigh of relief. "Whew, we got through that one cheaper than we should have" will be a thought in many legislators minds.

"We could have ended up giving them what we gave the Black Farmers. We could have given the tribes 1.4 billion outright - good thing the process will prevent them from ever using all the money in 10 years. We'll get some of this back, in the meanwhile it'll earn interest. We could have granted generous funding to clear the back log of land sales currently on the books. We could have granted generous funding to create a bunch of Indian Surveyors so the tribes could have been more self sufficient to fix their Cadastral surveys. We got off easy on this one because we'll continue to be a pass through to all the contracted surveyors. Good vote getter there!

Did you catch that freakish clause where we're gonna give 'em 60 million for college? Wasn't that great? Considering we already covered that with each treaty that was a steal!

We could have actually been forced to come up with an accounting which we could not have done. Well, we couldn't have done it without spending more of our money to fix the accounting errors. On a good note, because of this case, we got all the land title documents under lock and key in our super secret cave in Lenexa, Kansas. "

Despite some of the greatest minds in the field of law and policy speaking out on behalf of the landowners, President Obama will instead "forget" that justice requires dialogue and with a history of people, good-willed or not, speaking on our behalf, we return once again to a scene where one will speak for many. One legal team will get off on their take while we get 1/50th of what another legal team got for their black farmers. One land owner who would have only gotten a tiny payment every year will instead take home 15 million dollars despite the lack of proof that millions were spent according to her own tax records. (check the link here) (she showed on her own records that she didn't even work some months and she put it out there for everybody to see)

123 years of injustice: uncounted millions lost

362 tribes who still don't have a sound land management advocate: cheap when you get a Secretary who has never lived on his own reservation and has no concept of what real life issues take place daily on the rez, but can cry on demand when speaking in front of a camera.

Stealing their 1 last shot to infuse justice into the situation: PRICELESS!

I guess there will be a ceremony where a drum will be beat to the heartbeat of very few. There will be a photo op in a plush room with a cast of very well-known players. And then the checks will start rolling in with nary an explanation-just like our checks come now. No receipt, no statement, no explanation for why we're getting it. Certainly no justice from the Federal Government who issued it.

Thanks be to President Obama for making it all happen with the swipe of a pen. Indians never did like paperwork and we still don't.