The U.S. government has agreed to pay the Navajo Nation Indian tribe a record sum of $554 million as part of a settlement pertaining to the alleged mismanagement of the community's land and funds by the government spanning more than 50 years.
In what is the largest settlement to date between an Indian tribe and the U.S. government - exceeding others by more than $170 million - the Justice Department conceded that the "government did not act in their best interests when managing their natural resources," reported the New York Times.
As part of the agreement, along with dropping their lawsuit, the Navajo Nation agreed no further litigation will be enacted over mismanagement of resources.
After the money is transferred within two months, a tribe delegate told the Times that the Navajo will hold a public hearing to solicit ideas, and likely use it for roads, water, housing and basic infrastructure.
A formal signing ceremony will be held on Friday at the Navajo reservation capital in Window Rock, Ariz.
Since the 1800s, the federal government has been responsible for overseeing some 14 million acres of Navajo held land, which it leases out for fossil fuel extraction, timber harvesting, farming and housing. But the Navajo Nation claimed the government had "failed to invest tribal resources in a way that would maximize profits," said the Times, which the Navajo estimated cost $900 million in damages since 1946.
According to Andrew Sandler, a lawyer representing the Navajo Nation, "When the government negotiated the contracts, they didn't do a good job in getting a fair market value. The government didn't do a good job in monitoring the extraction to make sure the proper royalties were paid, and the government didn't do a good job in investing the money."
The Obama administration has so far negotiated $2.61 billion in agreements with 80 different Indian tribes that issued breach-of-trust claims over alleged mismanagement, according to the Times.
