On Thursday the Navajo Nation reached a $554 million settlement with the United States government, ending years of litigation. The landmark settlement stems from a 2006 lawsuit in which the Navajo nations claims the United States Government mismanaged natural resources and trust fund assets dating back to 1946.
The Navajo nation charged the federal government with failing to properly managed, invest and account for tribal funds and resources derived from the tribe’s 14 million acres of trust lands, which are leased for various purposes, including farming, grazing, mining and timber harvesting.
The Navajo Nation semi-autonomous reservation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States with 300,000 members and 27,000 square miles of territory in three states, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Despite the nation’s vast resources wealth many of the tribal members who live in remote areas of the reservation live without basic modern amenities, including electricity and running water. The Navajo lawsuit alleges that the Bureau of Indian affairs miss-management of Navajo assets contributed to extreme poverty on the reservation and prevented the nation from taking actions of its own.
On Friday the United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, under whom the Bureau of Indian Affairs is managed, led a delegation of federal officials at a signing ceremony at tribal headquarters in Window Rock. After the ceremony she said that the funds will be transferred to the Navajo Nation within weeks. “By the end of the year, we believe the check will actually be here and in the bank and earning interest,” Jewell said.
The landmark legal settlement, which concluded eight years of litigation, is the most paid by the federal government to a single Native American tribe. Ben Shelley, President of the Navajo Nation, said the agreement does not fully compensate the nation for the loss of revenue suffered and harm caused by the federal government’s actions over the past several decades. However, he believes the settlement marks a turning point in the relationship between the federal government of the United States and the Navajo Nation. “The trust litigation has been a protracted battle and, in the end, it was a victory for tribal sovereignty,” Shelly said in a statement. “After a long, hard-won process, I am pleased that we have finally come to a resolution on this matter to receive fair and just compensation for Navajo Nation.”