The Navajo Nation has received a US$554 million settlement from the US Federal Government over mismanagement of tribal resources in the largest settlement of its kind for a Native American group.
Much of the land on the 4.35 million hectare 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 group.
US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited Window Rock on 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 on 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,” Navajo president Ben Shelly said in a statement.
The Navajo group 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 US$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 that has some of the most iconic landscapes in the Southwest and is rich in natural resources.
Public meetings are to 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 Navajo 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.
About 70 percent of the roads on the reservation are unpaved, an estimated 16,000 families do not have electricity and many more do not have telephone service, 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 group has taken on much of the responsibility for leasing on its land.
If further disputes arise with the federal government, the settlement outlines a process to resolve them.
The Navajo Nation includes more than 5 million hectares of trust lands, which are leased for grazing, farming, oil and gas development and other purposes.
The group owns or has ownership interests in more than 100 trust accounts, according to the US Department of Interior.
The federal government mismanaged the extraction of natural resources on Navajo land, Sandler said.
In addition, the Navajo Nation did not get entitled royalties and the US government failed to appropriately invest money that came from natural resource contracts.
Native American groups 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 US$170 million, Sandler said.
