Native American farmers and ranchers have been waiting a long time for results from their Keepseagle v. Vilsack case.

The case seeks redress for Indian people denied millions of dollars in the same sorts of ag loans that went to their white neighbors (see previous post, here). But hope may be on the horizon.

As the AP’s Ben Evans reports here:

The Obama administration on Tuesday offered $1.3 billion to settle complaints from female and Latino farmers who say they faced discrimination from the Agriculture Department.

The proposal comes as Congress is poised to approve a $1.25 billion settlement with African-American farmers in a similar discrimination case. The agency also is negotiating with Native American farmers over another lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Friday is the court-mandated deadline for congressional approval in the historic Cobell v. Salazar case that would distribute $3.4 billion to Native Americans bilked out of oil, timber and other royalties held in trust for them by the federal government.

As lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, who is Blackfeet from Browning, Mont., told the AP’s Matt Volz, here, earlier this week:

“I want us to win for once, you know? Indians are always losing.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Cobell v. Salazar, Congress, Elouise Cobell, George Keepseagle, Gwen Florio, Indian trust case, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, Latino farmers, Native American farmers, Native American news, Obama Administration, Women farmers

April 15 is the day taxes are due, but this year, the date has special significance for Native American farmers and ranchers who lost out on millions of dollars in loans from the federal government.

That’s the day a status report is due in the case of Keepseagle v. Vilsack, as in U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The case is a huge discrimination lawsuit against the USDA, which alleges the agency favored white farmers and ranchers over Native Americans when it gave out loans – resulting in the loss of billions of dollars in credit over a quarter-century, according to this National Law Journal story by Marcia Coyle. It says the agency also ignored complaints by Native farmers and ranchers.

Vilsack is seeking a settlement in the case, originally filed in 1999, so U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia agreed to halt the litigation for 60 days.

That stay runs out April 21, with the status report due to Sullivan next week.

“We are nowhere close to a settlement, but it remains to be seen what our clients are prepared to do in connection with the stay,” says lead counsel Joseph Sellers, of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in Washington, D.C.

“Given the case has been pending more than 10 years and has lost some of the named plaintiffs, the passage of time can be very cruel,” he tells Coyle. “The concern is moving the case along, whether through settlement or continuing the litigation.”

She writes that:

U.S. Reps. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., and Tom Cole, R-Okla., co-chairs of the Native American Caucus, sent a letter on March 26 urging Vilsack to settle the litigation on terms comparable to the department’s recent settlement with African-American farmers. The department settled late-filed claims of black farmers for $1.25 billion, in addition to the $1 billion previously awarded for timely filed claims in that litigation.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, D-Mich., George Keepseagle, Gwen Florio, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, Native American Caucus, Native American farmers, Native American news, R-Okla., U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole

Will they or won’t they? Olympics viewers find out tonight if Russian ice dancers stick with aboriginal costumes
Russian ice dancers Maxim Shabalin and Oksana Domnina made a point – after winning the compulsory portion of their competition – of showing off the red, white and black blankets given them by members of Canada’s Four Host First Nations. The pair met with First Nations representatives who talked to them about cultural sensitivity after a furor arose over their Australian aboriginal-style costumes and music during an earlier competition, the AP’s Nancy Armour writes here. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge even said he might intervene. But, says Shabalin, “Our routine was very fair, and we respect this culture.” He and Domnina remain coy as to whether they’ll wear the costumes – consisting of dark body stockings, white aboriginal-style markings, and large leaves – tonight in the Olympics.

No curse on Norwegian athletes, First Nations leader says
In fact, Bob Chamberlin, chairman of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk Tribal Council and secretary treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, says cursing has never been part of First Nations tradition. Nonetheless, the Montreal Gazette reports here, there have been suggestions aboriginal people put a curse on the Norwegian Olympic team because of Norwegian-owned fish farms along wild-salmon migration routes.

Native ranchers praise settlement of black farmers’ suit; urge quick action on their own
The Obama Administration announced late last week that it will settle untimely civil rights claims of black farmers for $1.25 billion. Now, those involved in the 12-year-old case of Keepseagle v. Vilsack regarding Native farmers and ranchers urge the administration to follow up on talks it started in the fall with a quick eye toward resolving that suit, too, Farm Forum reports here.

Storage of nuclear waste on Indian reservations “economic racism akin to bribery”
Health News Digest says here that it gets why some impoverished tribes host hazardous waste on their sovereign reservations – which are not subject to the same environmental and health standards as U.S. land – as a way to bring in money. But Bayley Lopez, of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, says that “in the quest to dispose of nuclear waste, the government and private companies have disregarded and broken treaties, blurred the definition of Native American sovereignty, and directly engaged in a form of economic racism akin to bribery.”

Crow Creek Sioux Tribe launches telephone system
The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe’s lephone system is up and running on the reservation, according to the AP, here. Tribal leaders say the telephone and advanced broadband services provided by Native American Telecom-Crow Creek will pave the way for business, economic, social and educational development on the reservation.

Gwen Florio

Tags: 2010 Winter Games, aboriginal, buffalo post, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Four Host First Nations, Ice dancing, Keepseagle v. Vilsack, Maxim Shabalin, Musgamagw Tsawataineuk, Norwegian Olympic Team, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, nuclear waste, Oksana Domnina, Vancouver Olympics