Elouise cobell biography examples

Blackfoot tribal elder, addict, banker, and rancher

Elouise Pepion Cobell, also known as Yellow Culver Woman (November 5, 1945 – October 16, 2011)^[1] (NiitsítapiBlackfoot Confederacy), was a tribal elder gleam activist, banker, rancher, and plus plaintiff in the groundbreaking class-action suit Cobell v.

Salazar (2009). This challenged the United States' mismanagement of trust funds affinity to more than 500,000 unconventiona Native Americans.^[2] She pursued decency suit from 1996, challenging loftiness government to account for fees from resource leases.

In 2010, the government approved a $3.4 billion settlement for the pan case.

Major portions of rectitude settlement were to partially requite individual account holders, and bring out buy back fractionated land interests, and restore land to uncertainty. It also provided for spruce $60 million scholarship fund backing Native Americans and Alaskan Denizens, named the Cobell Education Education Fund in her honor.^[3] Loftiness settlement is the largest bright in a class action demolish the federal government.^[4]

Buy-back of area has continued, restoring acreage although the tribes.

As of Nov 2016, $40 million had bent contributed to the scholarship guarantee by the government, from secure purchase of lands. It has paid $900 million to be unsuccessful back the equivalent of 1.7 million acres in fractionated populace interests, restoring the land foot of reservations to tribal control.^[5]

In November 2016, Cobell's work hindrance behalf of Native Americans was honored by the award unravel a posthumous Presidential Medal confess Freedom by President Barack Obama; her son Turk Cobell habitual the award on her behalf.^[5]

Biography

Elouise Pépion was born in 1945 on the Blackfeet Reservation advance Montana, the middle of cardinal children of Polite and Wife Pépion.

She was a great-granddaughter of Mountain Chief, one some the legendary leaders of excellence Blackfeet Nation.^[6] She grew best part on her parents' cattle vaporizer on the reservation. Like hang around reservation families, they did put together have electricity or running bottled water. Pépion attended a one-room school until high school.^[4] She regular from Great Falls Business Faculty and attended Montana State University.^[6] She had to leave beforehand graduation to care for assemblage mother, who was dying abide by cancer.^[7]

After her mother's death, Elouise moved to Seattle, where she met and married Alvin Cobell, another Blackfeet living in General at the time.^[7] They locked away one son, Turk Cobell.

Puzzle out returning to the reservation be bounded by help her father with honourableness family ranch, Elouise Cobell became treasurer for the Blackfeet Organism.

She founded the Blackfeet Formal Bank, the first national rut located on an Indian qualification and owned by a Wealth American tribe.^[7] In 1997, Cobell won a MacArthur genius confer for her work on magnanimity bank and Native financial literacy.^[7] She donated part of deviate money to support her class-action suit against the federal reach a decision because of its mismanagement not later than trust funds and leasing fees, which she had filed birdcage 1996.

(See below: Challenging fed management of trust funds)

After twenty other tribes joined depiction bank to form the Inherent American Bank, Cobell became Ceo Director of the Native Earth Community Development Corporation, its non-profit affiliate. The Native American Cant is based in Denver, Colorado.^[6]

Her professional, civic experience and command included serving as Co-Chair outline Native American Bank, NA.; splendid Board Member for First Interstate Bank; a Trustee of decency National Museum of the Earth Indian; as well as adroit member of other boards.

Throughout her life, Cobell also helped her husband to operate their ranch, raising cattle and crops. Cobell was active in shut up shop agriculture and environmental issues. She founded the first land lope in Indian Country and served as a Trustee for prestige Nature Conservancy of Montana.

Cobell died at the age representative 65 on October 16, 2011, in Great Falls, Montana, afterward a brief battle with cancer.^[1][8]

Cobell was the former president drug Montana's Elvis Presley fan truncheon, but left these activities difficulty focus on her landmark proceedings.

In her honor, all vehivle radios during her funeral succession were tuned to Elvis songs. Her family arranged to suppress at the viewing a set of two of life-size Elvis cutouts array against the rear wall. Spruce photo of Cobell and bond family at Graceland flashed seldom exceptionally in the rotating display sparkle a big screen overhead.

Decency buffet featured a giant congeal, decorated with the words, "In Loving Memory of Elouise Cobell", and a picture of Elvis.^[9]

Challenging federal management of trust funds

While Treasurer of the Blackfeet Seed for more than a decennary, Cobell discovered many irregularities shoulder the management of funds kept in trust by the Collective States for the tribe pivotal for individual Indians.

These resources were derived from fees undaunted by the government for Amerindian trust lands leased for stump, oil production, grazing, gas advocate minerals, etc., from which picture government was supposed to compensation royalties to Indian owners. Mirror image time accounts became complicated introduction original trust lands were illogical among descendants, and Cobell wind up that tribal members were troupe receiving their fair amount line of attack trust funds.

Along with honourableness Intertribal Monitoring Association (on which she served as President), Cobell attempted to seek reform start Washington, DC, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s without come off. At that point she gratis Dennis Gingold (renowned banking member of the bar, based in Washington, DC), Thaddeus Holt, and the Native Inhabitant Rights Fund (including John Echohawk and Keith Harper) to stimulate a class-action suit against rendering Department of Interior in disappointed to force reform and demolish accounting of the trust financial assistance belonging to individual Indians.

They set up the Blackfeet Reluctance Development Fund, "a nonprofit built to bring claims against depiction United States for mismanaging effects held in trust for Catalogue Americans."^[10] The Lannan Foundation, which "provides financial assistance to tribes and nonprofits that serve Pick American communities", has said divagate it gave more than $7 million in grants to say publicly Blackfeet fund from 1998 the same as 2009 to support the case, in the expectation that loftiness grants would be repaid observe full after settlement.

In 2013, in a suit filed make a way into Washington, the Lannan Foundation articulated it was still seeking levy from Gingold, the lead data in the case, and abstruse received only $1.8 million.^[10]

Settlement

The class-action suit was filed in Oct 1996 and is known significance Cobell v.

Salazar (Salazar was Secretary of Interior when representation case was settled.) A negotiated settlement was reached in 2009 by the administration of Prexy Barack Obama. In 2010 Assembly passed a bill to proper $3.4 billion for settlement pick up the check the longstanding class action well-mannered. It had three parts: import tax of individual plaintiffs included rerouteing the class action; a underwrite of $1.9 billion to acquire back fractionated land interest pull off voluntary sales, and restore district to reservations, strengthening their disarray base.

It also provided in the vicinity of a $60 million scholarship sponsor to be funded from justness sales, named the Cobell Tutelage Scholarship Fund in her standing.

As of July 2011, notices were being sent to interpretation hundreds of thousands of solitary Native Americans affected. Most established settlements of about $1800, on the other hand some may receive more.^[11] Translation of November 2016, the rule had spent about $900 trillion to buy back the matching part of 1.7 million acres break down fractionated land interests, restoring leadership land base of reservations do away with tribal control.

In addition, $40 million has been added consequently far to the Cobell Knowledge Fund.^[5]

In 2009, when settlement was reached with the government, Cobell said:

Although we have reached a settlement totaling more prevail over $3.4 billion, there is petite doubt this is significantly set alight than the full accounting tell between which individual Indians are honoured.

Yes, we could prolong pilot struggle and fight longer, very last perhaps one day we would know, down to the coin, how much individual Indians untidy heap owed. Perhaps we could uniform litigate long enough to spiraling the settlement amount. But incredulity are compelled to settle important by the sobering realization desert our class grows smaller command year, each month and now and then day, as our elders capitulate and are forever prevented be different receiving their just compensation.

Representation staging other media

Producer and director Melinda Janko made 100 Years: Round off Woman's Fight for Justice (2016), a 75-minute documentary on picture life and achievements of Cobell.

It was screened at illustriousness Santa Fe Independent Film Feast in October 2016.^[12]

Legacy and honors

References

External links