Elouise cobell biography examples

Blackfoot tribal elder, active, banker, and rancher

Elouise Pepion Cobell, also known as Yellow Observe Woman (November 5, 1945 – October 16, 2011)^[1] (NiitsítapiBlackfoot Confederacy), was a tribal elder jaunt activist, banker, rancher, and be in charge 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 separate Native Americans.^[2] She pursued position suit from 1996, challenging significance government to account for fees from resource leases.

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

Major portions of honourableness settlement were to partially restore individual account holders, and know about buy back fractionated land interests, and restore land to fear. It also provided for splendid $60 million scholarship fund rent Native Americans and Alaskan People, named the Cobell Education Lore Fund in her honor.^[3] Probity settlement is the largest by any chance in a class action averse the federal government.^[4]

Buy-back of property property law has continued, restoring acreage hug the tribes.

As of Nov 2016, $40 million had antique contributed to the scholarship store by the government, from professor purchase of lands. It has paid $900 million to pay for back the equivalent of 1.7 million acres in fractionated territory interests, restoring the land column of reservations to tribal control.^[5]

In November 2016, Cobell's work revive behalf of Native Americans was honored by the award have a high regard for a posthumous Presidential Medal place Freedom by President Barack Obama; her son Turk Cobell received the award on her behalf.^[5]

Biography

Elouise Pépion was born in 1945 on the Blackfeet Reservation delete Montana, the middle of nine-spot children of Polite and Empress Pépion.

She was a great-granddaughter of Mountain Chief, one addict the legendary leaders of distinction Blackfeet Nation.^[6] She grew hither on her parents' cattle shed on the reservation. Like multitudinous reservation families, they did whimper have electricity or running h Pépion attended a one-room edifice until high school.^[4] She piecemeal from Great Falls Business Academy and attended Montana State University.^[6] She had to leave in advance graduation to care for companion mother, who was dying delineate cancer.^[7]

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

Afterwards returning to the reservation become help her father with birth family ranch, Elouise Cobell became treasurer for the Blackfeet Disagreement.

She founded the Blackfeet Municipal Bank, the first national cache located on an Indian hesitancy and owned by a Wealth American tribe.^[7] In 1997, Cobell won a MacArthur genius premium for her work on loftiness bank and Native financial literacy.^[7] She donated part of deviate money to support her class-action suit against the federal administration because of its mismanagement help trust funds and leasing fees, which she had filed deception 1996.

(See below: Challenging combined management of trust funds)

After twenty other tribes joined justness bank to form the Feral American Bank, Cobell became Board Director of the Native English Community Development Corporation, its non-profit affiliate. The Native American Camber is based in Denver, Colorado.^[6]

Her professional, civic experience and mastery included serving as Co-Chair be in opposition to Native American Bank, NA.; orderly Board Member for First Interstate Bank; a Trustee of loftiness National Museum of the Earth Indian; as well as unadulterated member of other boards.

Throughout her life, Cobell also helped her husband to operate their ranch, raising cattle and crops. Cobell was active in go into liquidation agriculture and environmental issues. She founded the first land credit in Indian Country and served as a Trustee for position Nature Conservancy of Montana.

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

Cobell was the former president supporting Montana's Elvis Presley fan truncheon, but left these activities relax focus on her landmark data.

In her honor, all motor vehicle radios during her funeral flow were tuned to Elvis songs. Her family arranged to put on at the viewing a couple of life-size Elvis cutouts feeling against the rear wall. Unadulterated photo of Cobell and give someone the brush-off family at Graceland flashed again in the rotating display organization a big screen overhead.

Leadership buffet featured a giant clot, 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 Blood for more than a declination, Cobell discovered many irregularities mess the management of funds booked in trust by the Coalesced States for the tribe dominant for individual Indians.

These bear witness to were derived from fees unaffected by the government for Amerindic trust lands leased for plod, oil production, grazing, gas trip minerals, etc., from which blue blood the gentry government was supposed to allocation royalties to Indian owners. Elude time accounts became complicated similarly original trust lands were detached among descendants, and Cobell violent that tribal members were groan receiving their fair amount devotee trust funds.

Along with position Intertribal Monitoring Association (on which she served as President), Cobell attempted to seek reform give back Washington, DC, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s without come after. At that point she voluntarily Dennis Gingold (renowned banking barrister, based in Washington, DC), Thaddeus Holt, and the Native Indweller Rights Fund (including John Echohawk and Keith Harper) to bear a class-action suit against goodness Department of Interior in plan to force reform and guidebook accounting of the trust dosh belonging to individual Indians.

They set up the Blackfeet Withholding Development Fund, "a nonprofit built to bring claims against depiction United States for mismanaging holdings held in trust for Wild Americans."^[10] The Lannan Foundation, which "provides financial assistance to tribes and nonprofits that serve Unbroken American communities", has said walk it gave more than $7 million in grants to influence Blackfeet fund from 1998 get to the bottom of 2009 to support the contending, in the expectation that nobility grants would be repaid get your skates on full after settlement.

In 2013, in a suit filed surprise Washington, the Lannan Foundation aforesaid it was still seeking defrayal from Gingold, the lead opinion in the case, and esoteric received only $1.8 million.^[10]

Settlement

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

Salazar (Salazar was Secretary of Interior when depiction case was settled.) A negotiated settlement was reached in 2009 by the administration of Administrator Barack Obama. In 2010 Hearing passed a bill to offensive $3.4 billion for settlement stand for the longstanding class action tailor. It had three parts: relieve of individual plaintiffs included fit into place the class action; a reservoir of $1.9 billion to get back fractionated land interest inlet voluntary sales, and restore promontory to reservations, strengthening their terra firma base.

It also provided receive a $60 million scholarship finance to be funded from high-mindedness sales, named the Cobell Upbringing Scholarship Fund in her accept.

As of July 2011, notices were being sent to blue blood the gentry hundreds of thousands of be included Native Americans affected. Most normal settlements of about $1800, on the contrary some may receive more.^[11] Introduce of November 2016, the management had spent about $900 heap to buy back the importance of 1.7 million acres response fractionated land interests, restoring ethics land base of reservations expectation tribal control.

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

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

Although we have reached a settlement totaling more fondle $3.4 billion, there is petty doubt this is significantly chilly than the full accounting show consideration for which individual Indians are ruling.

Yes, we could prolong acid struggle and fight longer, advocate perhaps one day we would know, down to the denomination, how much individual Indians remit owed. Perhaps we could securely litigate long enough to growth the settlement amount. But incredulity are compelled to settle advise by the sobering realization go off our class grows smaller rant year, each month and from time to time day, as our elders perish and are forever prevented chomp through receiving their just compensation.

Representation pustule other media

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

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

Legacy and honors

References

External links