Elouise P. Cobell
Elouise Pepion Cobell (November 5, 1945 – October 16, 2011)[1] was a Niitsítapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) elder and activist, banker, rancher, a Native American leader, and lead plaintiff in the groundbreaking litigation Cobell v. Salazar, which challenged the United States' mismanagement of trust funds belonging to more than 500,000 individual Native Americans.[2]
Biography
Elouise Cobell was a member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe of Montana and a great-granddaughter of Mountain Chief, one of the legendary Blackfeet leaders of the West. Elouise Cobell was a graduate of Great Falls Business College and attended Montana State University.
She was the Executive Director of the Native American Community Development Corporation, a non-profit affiliate of Native American Bank. She also served as Chairperson for the Blackfeet National Bank, the first national bank located on an Indian reservation and owned by a Native American tribe. Her professional, civic experience and expertise includes serving as Co-Chair of Native American Bank, NA.; a Board Member for First Interstate Bank; a Trustee of the National Museum of the American Indian; as well as a member of other boards. She served for thirteen years as the Treasurer for the Blackfeet Indian Nation in Montana.
In addition to operating a working ranch with her husband, which produces cattle and crops, she was active in local agriculture and environmental issues. She founded the first Land Trust in Indian Country and serves as a Trustee for the Nature Conservancy of Montana.
As Treasurer of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, she established the Blackfeet National Bank, the first national bank to be located on an Indian reservation and to be owned by a Native American tribe. She served on the Board of the Native American Bank and First Interstate Bank.
While Treasurer of the Blackfeet Tribe, Ms. Cobell discovered many irregularities in the management of funds held in trust by the United States for the tribe and for individual Indians. Along with the Intertribal Monitoring Association (which she served as President), she attempted to seek reform in Washington, DC from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s without success. At that point she asked Dennis Gingold (renowned banking lawyer), Thaddeus Holt and the Native American Rights Fund (including John Echohawk and Keith Harper) to bring a suit forcing reform and an accounting of the trust funds belonging to individual Indians.
The case is known as Cobell v. Salazar, and in 2010 the Obama administration offered a settlement of $3.4 billion of the longstanding class action suit. As of July 2011, notices are going out to the hundreds of thousands of individual Native Americans affected. Most will receive settlements of about $1800, but some may receive more.[3]
In 2009 when settlement was reached Cobell said: "Although we have reached a settlement totaling more than $3.4 billion, there is little doubt this is significantly less than the full accounting to which individual Indians are entitled. Yes, we could prolong our struggle and fight longer, and perhaps one day we would know, down to the penny, how much individual Indians are owed. Perhaps we could even litigate long enough to increase the settlement amount. But we are compelled to settle now by the sobering realization that our class grows smaller each year, each month and every day, as our elders die and are forever prevented from receiving their just compensation."
Death
Cobell died Sunday evening, October 16, 2011, in Great Falls, Montana after a brief battle with cancer.[4][1]
Legacy and honors
- 1997: "Genius Grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Fellowship Program.
- Awarded an honorary doctorate from Montana State University
- 2002: received the International Women's Forum award for "Women Who Make a Difference," in Mexico City.
- 2004: Jay Silverheels Achievement Award from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.
- 2005: received a "Cultural Freedom Fellowship" from the Lannan Foundation, an award that cited her persistence in bringing to light the government's "more than a century of government malfeasance and dishonesty" with the Indian Trust.
- 2007: one of ten people to receive American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Impact Award (for making the world a better place)
- 2011: awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College as part of the college's 2011 Commencement ceremonies.[5]
- 2011: awarded the Montana Trial Lawyers Association's Citizens Award[6]
- 2011: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, is co-sponsoring legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Elouise Cobell (neè Pepion).[6]
References
- ^ a b Nelson, Valerie J. (October 17, 2011). "Elouise Cobell dies at 65; Native American activist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- ^ Tribune Staff. "125 Montana Newsmakers: Elouise Cobell". Great Falls Tribune. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
- ^ Coleman, Travis (July 8, 2011). "Cobell Settlement Notifications Begin; Hundred of Thousands Expected to Benefit". RezNet News. University of Montana School of Journalism. Retrieved August 28, 2011.
- ^ Florio, Gwen (16). "Elouise Cobell, force behind Indian trust case, dies at 65". Missoulian. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=and|year=/|date=mismatch (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Elouise Cobell, Speeches", Dartmouth College
- ^ a b Hevesi, Dennis (October 17, 2011). "Elouise Cobell, 65, Dies; Sued U.S. Over Indian Trust Funds". New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2011.