WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 -- A half million individual Indian plaintiffs in the 12-1/2 year-old class action lawsuit over the government's mismanagement of Individual Indian Trust funds have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to deny the Osage Tribe's 11th hour motion to intervene and align with the government in an appeal of the district court's decision that limits the individual Indian trust beneficiaries' recovery against the government.
In a response to the motion filed by the Osage Tribe -- that the tribe submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia with the consent of the government -- the plaintiffs say that the Oklahoma tribe has asserted claims irrelevant to the issues on appeal. The plaintiffs also state that the tribe has only a minuscule interest in mineral revenues rights it seeks to appropriate, the petition says.
"We are on guard against any action that could possibly further delay the Indian Trust beneficiaries receiving what they are entitled to," said Elouise Cobell, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit and a member of the Blackfeet Nation from Browning, Mont.
"The beneficiaries have waited far too long already. Many have died waiting. The Osage Tribe's efforts may further delay justice that is overdue to the plaintiff class. The tribe's stated alignment with the government is inexplicable, given the harm it invariably would cause if the tribe is successful."
"It is important to note that the interests of individual Osage Trust account beneficiaries have been well represented by the plaintiffs since the landmark lawsuit was filed in 1996 and the class was certified in February 1997," Ms. Cobell said. "We will continue to represent them regardless of this puzzling effort to slow our case."
The court of appeals has indicated it may hear oral arguments in the case, titled Cobell vs. Kempthorne, this spring.
The plaintiff's petition says the Osage Tribe can protect its tiny interest (less than 1%) in the mineral proceeds as a friend of the court brief in the appeal.
The full petition is available at www.indiantrust.com.