$7B proposed over Indian trusts suit

The U.S. government has proposed paying $7 billion to settle lawsuits over the management of Indian trust lands -- an offer met with immediate objections from Indian plaintiffs. At issue is a decade-old lawsuit by Indians against the government claiming that the government has mismanaged more than $100 billion in oil, gas, timber and other royalties held in trust from their lands dating back to 1887. The litigation, filed in 1996 by Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell, deals with individual Indians' lands. Several tribes have also sued, claiming mismanagement of their lands. Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he will hold hearings on the proposal and said the settlement offer is the first time the federal government has acknowledged a multibillion dollar liability for mismanagement of the trust funds over the past century.