"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught."
~J.C. Watts
Ok.....shhhhhhhh.... Nobody watch the Bureau of Indian Education. Let's see what they do about SIPI losing their accreditation if nobody's looking.
And on March 24th then we'll look-after the Higher Learning Commission has left. There will be no Find-A-Word puzzle that will fix any of the shortcomings, however.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The best Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs we're going to get
You protect Individual Indian Rights with the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs you have--not the Secretary you might want or wish to have at a later time.
"We’re all about executing the trust responsibility and protecting all Native people that have an interest in water,” [Larry] Echo Hawk said. “I’m here to tell you we will be vigilant in protecting the rights of allottees.”
"We’re all about executing the trust responsibility and protecting all Native people that have an interest in water,” [Larry] Echo Hawk said. “I’m here to tell you we will be vigilant in protecting the rights of allottees.”
The bottom line, he said, “speaking as the assistant secretary, this is the best deal that you’re going to get." (from the Billings Gazette)
"...the best you're gonna get?"
That's "being vigilant?"
"The best you're going to get?" Why does that sound so paternalistic again? Yes there is a lot of great stuff going on in the Crow Water Settlement. The Tribe is not arguing, the BIA is not arguing, but if they were, "somebody" would be listening. The fact that BIA leaves tribes out of consultation on many policy changes is a fact that is not easily forgotten. Tribes are heard when they complain, rightly so.
But what happens when individual Indian land owners complain-when they weren't given a chance to voice their concerns-after a decision has been made that affects them? "...this is the best deal that you're going to get."
Any idea now why the Elouise Cobell Settlement, made on "behalf" of all land owners is such a contentious issue? Probably not.
And that leaves us still wishing for somebody to protect our Individual Indian Land Rights by listening to the Individual Land Owners who have the greatest gauge of what kind of effect any legislation or policies will have on us.
I guess getting a real championship office of Tribal and Individual Indian Rights really does come down to "...a matter of production and capability of doing it."
Coming soon: An Assistant Secretary who will advocate for the acceptance that the Cobell Settlement is fair and just to individual Land Owners. (make sure you read between the lines though if you're an Individual Indian Land Owner)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Dear Elouise Cobell Litigation Members
"Someone Tell Her" week of February 31, 2011
February 31, 2011
Dear Indian Country:
don't read between the lines because you might not like what becomes obvious:
This is the another letter in a series of openly bitter letters that I'm sending to Indian Country. The purpose of this letter is to confuse you about the settlement and to answer your most relevant questions that maybe 20 indians have as proof that Indian country "overwhelmingly" has no idea of what we've been up to.
As I reported in the another letter where I gave no side opposed to me any time to refute my claims, the parties agreed to extend the settlement for just the 40th time and yet another extension is required if we are to give Santa a chance to pass legislation. I will only consult our attorneys and allies on the Hill about that extension on behalf of oblivious land owners over the next few days.
In your last letter, you mentioned that Senator Barrasso (R - WY), Vice-Chairman, Senator Committee on Indian Affairs introduced an amendment that he says would "improve" the settlement agreement even though it would terminate the settlement, what is the status of his amendment? Thanks to the overwhelming support of maybe 20 Indians who favor my side, Senator Barrasso was unable to bring his amendment to the floor for a vote. Your letters and calls to members of Congress had a significant impact on the outcome. Unfortunately, Senator Barrasso still doesn't understand, or doesn't care, that Indian Country has 20 Indians who overwhelmingly support this settlement. According to statements reported in the press, he is more determined than ever to rob you of your victory in this case and it is likely that he again will attempt to introduce an amendment to terminate the settlement at some time in the future. We remain on guard against his efforts to further harm more than 20 individual Indians. Instead we will focus our efforts on robbing you by shifting millions of dollars away from the thousands of other Indians who oppose me and putting it in the pockets of my lawyers.
You also mentioned that the National Congress of American Indians was considering a resolution supporting the Barrasso amendment, what is the status of that resolution? The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association resolutions opposing my settlement will summarily be ignored and therefore do not exist as proof that more than 20 Indians overwhelmingly oppose my settlement. (In fact they only represent 73 tribes in 9 states) I attended an imaginary NCAI event in Rapid City, South Dakota beginning June 31, 2010. A small, rabid group of tribal representatives sought to support Senator Barrasso's amendment and, thereby, kill your settlement, but their effort was defeated soundly (even overwhelmingly) and NCAI passed a resolution urging Congress to reject the Barrasso amendment and pass authorizing legislation as soon as possible. It is unfortunate that the tribally-elected leaders I called Rabid could not be euthanized. It is important to remember that this class is made up solely of oblivious individual Indian trust beneficiaries; tribes have their own litigation (and, at times, the agenda of a few tribally-elected leaders is inconsistent with individual Indians' interests), but they don't represent your interests in this litigation. I do, so don't listen to them; listen to me; your non-elected leader.
Will any Interior contractors with experience on Indian issues be selected to assist with the distribution of settlement proceeds or to hold the funds pending distribution? Overwhelmingly not! This is a conflict of interest which does not serve my interests or my attorney's interests so it won't be tolerated. To allow the same contractors, who have been peddling their services that fail to deliver promised benefits to Indian Country, to have any role in the distribution of settlement funds would be insane. For the first time in history, your funds will be held securely, managed prudently, and distributed competently by able and experienced professionals, mostly to my lawyers but you will get enough to buy groceries and gas for a month-rest assured! I know of no Interior contractors that meet the highest fiduciary standards that you are owed; this is not dissimilar to your lack of knowledge of any lawyer who is really representing your interests.
While I'm at it, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't like ATNI, GPTCA, or Interior people. I'm only here to support "Individual Indians."
Where can I review the overwhelming amount of time the attorneys have spent on the litigation? Pursuant to an agreement between the parties, statements regarding counsels' billing rates and related records supporting daily time, expense and cost records will be filed with the Court and available to the public as long as you are standing just inside the courtroom doors or downstairs in the courtroom basement where the records are available for any Indian in this country to come and see, in person. (For the record, for reasons unexplainable to oblivious Indian Land Owners we will not publish the records anywhere where everybody can see them, like in a newspaper, or on my website, or on the Church Bulletin Board.) This documentation will be filed no later than 30 days following preliminary approval of the settlement agreement by the Court. After the court signs. Not before the Court signs. Preliminary approval by the Court cannot occur unless and until Congress authorizes the settlement. We are not holding anybody hostage by withholding the billing information until after Congress signs the settlement. We are only holding papers people! Papers! As soon as the settlement is signed, we will surprise everybody with the billing information. We will not contest any settlement between 50 and 99 million dollars. We will agree that we are entitled to between 50 and 99 million dollars. That is irrefutable information that we will not contest. We will not contest that we are owed between 50 and 99 million. We agree that we are owed between 50 and 99 million dollars: plus 124 million dollars. Since no one will suggest 223 million dollars it will therefore be ok for us to suggest it. It will all make overwhelming sense if you don't think about it.
Prior letters which are truly objective cannot be found . We also have a "frequently asked questions" section which includes what I have deemed the most common questions we've received as well as questions and answers from prior harmless letters. With so many members of the class being so angry, I can't answer every question that you send. These letters will answer as many questions as possible, or two that I randomly choose as being harmless to my cause that are relevant to the entire oblivious class membership.
The most common question I receive every week relates to whether a particular person is included in this settlement. Unfortunately, I do not have that information, then again, maybe it's best I don't have that information. The settlement agreement provides general guidelines. But I also understand that many of you are still oblivious to the entire settlement agreement and still have questions. Thank you for your questions.
I hope someday to have an answer, after we've been paid for our time and service to all 20 of the Indians who overwhelmingly support me. Pay no attention to my tax records which are public and show that most weeks I only recorded to the IRS that I worked 2 hours a week for the organization which got grants to have me represent all the oblivious Indians in the pursuit of justice in this case. I will do my best to amend the records from 14 previous years that shows that we already paid for the financial services and the legal services of a few well known attorneys associated with this case.
Thanks for being an enrolled member which gave me numbers from which to claim I represent.
If no one answers any of the relevant questions of angry land owners please keep sending letters. We overwhelmingly welcome any letter, unfortunately we won't answer all of them or any that appear to be representing dissent from my opinion or my attorneys, ooops I mean our attorneys.
If you have a question, send an e-mail to someone. Otherwise you can send me a letter. To expedite the processing of your letters a contractor has set up a post office box in Ohio, smack dab in the middle of Indian Country! But I assure you I will see your letters. I just won't answer any that are too difficult to explain or that point out our shortcomings in representing the real overwhelming majority of you.
Thank you and keep your questions coming!
Best wishes for those expensive attorneys of mine
-your overwhelmingly best supporter
More articles are at the bottom of this page. Click here.
February 31, 2011
Dear Indian Country:
don't read between the lines because you might not like what becomes obvious:
This is the another letter in a series of openly bitter letters that I'm sending to Indian Country. The purpose of this letter is to confuse you about the settlement and to answer your most relevant questions that maybe 20 indians have as proof that Indian country "overwhelmingly" has no idea of what we've been up to.
As I reported in the another letter where I gave no side opposed to me any time to refute my claims, the parties agreed to extend the settlement for just the 40th time and yet another extension is required if we are to give Santa a chance to pass legislation. I will only consult our attorneys and allies on the Hill about that extension on behalf of oblivious land owners over the next few days.
In your last letter, you mentioned that Senator Barrasso (R - WY), Vice-Chairman, Senator Committee on Indian Affairs introduced an amendment that he says would "improve" the settlement agreement even though it would terminate the settlement, what is the status of his amendment? Thanks to the overwhelming support of maybe 20 Indians who favor my side, Senator Barrasso was unable to bring his amendment to the floor for a vote. Your letters and calls to members of Congress had a significant impact on the outcome. Unfortunately, Senator Barrasso still doesn't understand, or doesn't care, that Indian Country has 20 Indians who overwhelmingly support this settlement. According to statements reported in the press, he is more determined than ever to rob you of your victory in this case and it is likely that he again will attempt to introduce an amendment to terminate the settlement at some time in the future. We remain on guard against his efforts to further harm more than 20 individual Indians. Instead we will focus our efforts on robbing you by shifting millions of dollars away from the thousands of other Indians who oppose me and putting it in the pockets of my lawyers.
You also mentioned that the National Congress of American Indians was considering a resolution supporting the Barrasso amendment, what is the status of that resolution? The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association resolutions opposing my settlement will summarily be ignored and therefore do not exist as proof that more than 20 Indians overwhelmingly oppose my settlement. (In fact they only represent 73 tribes in 9 states) I attended an imaginary NCAI event in Rapid City, South Dakota beginning June 31, 2010. A small, rabid group of tribal representatives sought to support Senator Barrasso's amendment and, thereby, kill your settlement, but their effort was defeated soundly (even overwhelmingly) and NCAI passed a resolution urging Congress to reject the Barrasso amendment and pass authorizing legislation as soon as possible. It is unfortunate that the tribally-elected leaders I called Rabid could not be euthanized. It is important to remember that this class is made up solely of oblivious individual Indian trust beneficiaries; tribes have their own litigation (and, at times, the agenda of a few tribally-elected leaders is inconsistent with individual Indians' interests), but they don't represent your interests in this litigation. I do, so don't listen to them; listen to me; your non-elected leader.
Will any Interior contractors with experience on Indian issues be selected to assist with the distribution of settlement proceeds or to hold the funds pending distribution? Overwhelmingly not! This is a conflict of interest which does not serve my interests or my attorney's interests so it won't be tolerated. To allow the same contractors, who have been peddling their services that fail to deliver promised benefits to Indian Country, to have any role in the distribution of settlement funds would be insane. For the first time in history, your funds will be held securely, managed prudently, and distributed competently by able and experienced professionals, mostly to my lawyers but you will get enough to buy groceries and gas for a month-rest assured! I know of no Interior contractors that meet the highest fiduciary standards that you are owed; this is not dissimilar to your lack of knowledge of any lawyer who is really representing your interests.
While I'm at it, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't like ATNI, GPTCA, or Interior people. I'm only here to support "Individual Indians."
Where can I review the overwhelming amount of time the attorneys have spent on the litigation? Pursuant to an agreement between the parties, statements regarding counsels' billing rates and related records supporting daily time, expense and cost records will be filed with the Court and available to the public as long as you are standing just inside the courtroom doors or downstairs in the courtroom basement where the records are available for any Indian in this country to come and see, in person. (For the record, for reasons unexplainable to oblivious Indian Land Owners we will not publish the records anywhere where everybody can see them, like in a newspaper, or on my website, or on the Church Bulletin Board.) This documentation will be filed no later than 30 days following preliminary approval of the settlement agreement by the Court. After the court signs. Not before the Court signs. Preliminary approval by the Court cannot occur unless and until Congress authorizes the settlement. We are not holding anybody hostage by withholding the billing information until after Congress signs the settlement. We are only holding papers people! Papers! As soon as the settlement is signed, we will surprise everybody with the billing information. We will not contest any settlement between 50 and 99 million dollars. We will agree that we are entitled to between 50 and 99 million dollars. That is irrefutable information that we will not contest. We will not contest that we are owed between 50 and 99 million. We agree that we are owed between 50 and 99 million dollars: plus 124 million dollars. Since no one will suggest 223 million dollars it will therefore be ok for us to suggest it. It will all make overwhelming sense if you don't think about it.
Prior letters which are truly objective cannot be found . We also have a "frequently asked questions" section which includes what I have deemed the most common questions we've received as well as questions and answers from prior harmless letters. With so many members of the class being so angry, I can't answer every question that you send. These letters will answer as many questions as possible, or two that I randomly choose as being harmless to my cause that are relevant to the entire oblivious class membership.
The most common question I receive every week relates to whether a particular person is included in this settlement. Unfortunately, I do not have that information, then again, maybe it's best I don't have that information. The settlement agreement provides general guidelines. But I also understand that many of you are still oblivious to the entire settlement agreement and still have questions. Thank you for your questions.
I hope someday to have an answer, after we've been paid for our time and service to all 20 of the Indians who overwhelmingly support me. Pay no attention to my tax records which are public and show that most weeks I only recorded to the IRS that I worked 2 hours a week for the organization which got grants to have me represent all the oblivious Indians in the pursuit of justice in this case. I will do my best to amend the records from 14 previous years that shows that we already paid for the financial services and the legal services of a few well known attorneys associated with this case.
Thanks for being an enrolled member which gave me numbers from which to claim I represent.
If no one answers any of the relevant questions of angry land owners please keep sending letters. We overwhelmingly welcome any letter, unfortunately we won't answer all of them or any that appear to be representing dissent from my opinion or my attorneys, ooops I mean our attorneys.
If you have a question, send an e-mail to someone. Otherwise you can send me a letter. To expedite the processing of your letters a contractor has set up a post office box in Ohio, smack dab in the middle of Indian Country! But I assure you I will see your letters. I just won't answer any that are too difficult to explain or that point out our shortcomings in representing the real overwhelming majority of you.
Thank you and keep your questions coming!
Best wishes for those expensive attorneys of mine
-your overwhelmingly best supporter
More articles are at the bottom of this page. Click here.
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