"Final step nears in $554m US-Navajo settlement" by Felicia Fonseca and Terry Tang | Associated Press September 26, 2014
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation is poised to receive $554 million from the federal government over mismanagement of tribal resources in the largest settlement of its kind for a Native American tribe.
Much of the land on the 27,000-square-mile reservation has been leased for things like farming, grazing, oil and gas development, mining, and housing.
The leases once were largely overseen by the US government, which mismanaged the revenue and failed to properly invest and account for it, according to the Navajo.
US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is scheduled to visit Window Rock, where the Navajo Nation is based, Friday to formally recognize the settlement.
‘‘The historic agreement strengthens the government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Navajo Nation, helps restore a positive working relationship with the nation’s leaders, and empowers Navajo communities,’’ Jewell said in a statement Thursday.
Navajo officials hailed the settlement as a positive end to a long ordeal.
‘‘The trust litigation has been a protracted battle and in the end, it was a victory for tribal sovereignty,’’ tribal President Ben Shelly said in a statement.
The tribe agreed to settle the case earlier this year but was awaiting signatures from federal agencies before the deal could be finalized.
The Navajo Nation originally sought $900 million when the lawsuit was filed in 2006.
The Navajo Reservation is larger than any single American Indian land base, covering sections of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Almost two-thirds of the 300,000 Navajos live on the reservation, which has some of the most iconic landscapes in the Southwest and is rich in natural resources.
Public meetings will be held to seek community input on how the money should be spent, Navajo Nation Council Delegate Lorenzo Curley said. The first meeting is scheduled for next month. Some tribal members have suggested that it be set aside for future generations, or used for business development, he said.
Deswood Tome, an adviser to Shelly, said the money could help with housing, water, roads, power line extensions and other infrastructure needs.
‘‘There’s a critical housing shortage on the Navajo Nation,’’ Tome said.
About 70 percent of the roads on the reservation are unpaved, an estimated 16,000 families don’t have electricity, and many more don’t have telephone, water, or natural gas services, according to the tribal utility provider.
Andrew Sandler, one of the Navajo Nation’s attorneys on the case, said the tribe has taken on much of the responsibility for leasing on its land. If additional disputes arise with the federal government, the settlement outlines a process to resolve them.
‘‘It was a good result for all parties, an appropriate result for all parties, and it creates finality,’’ Sandler said.
Native American tribes across the country have filed more than 100 breach-of-trust cases against the US government. The Navajo Nation settlement is the largest, exceeding the next highest amount by $170 million, Sandler said.
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