COBELL SETTLES!

LANDMARK COBELL V. SALAZAR SETTLES

by Brock Conway

The landmark lawsuit on mismanaged IIM accounts by Eloise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet tribe and on behalf of over 300,000 IIM beneficiaries reached the early stages of settlement this past week. U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announced the historic settlement at the Department of Interior in Washington DC earlier this past week. The settlement provides for 1.4 billion for IIM beneficiaries and 2 billion for land consolidation to address land fractionation. The settlement was far below what Cobell sought and likely, far below what is due IIM beneficiaries. UNM will provide details on needed Congressional approval of the settlement as these emerge.

A PERSONAL VISIT WITH THE ORIGINAL WHISTLEBLOWER, DAVID HENRY.....ACKNOWLEDGING AN UNSUNG HERO

It was late 2002, I had the opportunity to visit with David Henry, the BIA accountant who originally unearthed the massive mismanagement while working at the Billings Area Office. I met the elderly Mr. Henry at the Billings Perkins Restaurant on 27th Street. Mr. Henry drove an old, beat up Suburban. After brief introductions, we took our seats in the booth and ordered a meal. Mr. Henry began to relay his experience working as a BIA accountant and the pattern of mismanagement that began to emerge before him. He began to ask questions, he contacted all of the people he was supposed to contact. He began a one man campaign to bring the theft of IIM funds to light. He contacted all of the appropriate federal agencies, the BIA attorneys, his supervisors.

It soon became clear to him this is not something the BIA powers wanted to address or even be made aware of. There was a coordinated effort to keep this information from seeing the light of day. David Henry continued to investigate, his own investigation revealed the IIM accounts were mismanaged to the tune of about 300 billion. He began to actively seek remedy of the theft of revenues and royalties off of Indian land. He became a one man crusade, he acted on his conscience.He began to meet increasing retribution from his superiors. He was threatened with termination, he was shuttled out of the BIA Area Office. As ardent of a whistleblower he became, so was the full force of the federal government to retaliate against him, and to quash what was becoming an increasingly apparent mismanagement scandal. Mr. Henry pressed on.

The federal government begain to label him as mentally unstable and began a series of actions that would destroy Mr. Henry's life. The Department of Interior destroyed Mr. Henry's credibility, his standing in his profession and his life. When I met Mr Henry, he was at a low for an accounting professional. He was old, and he was tired of fighting the government. He looked like a man who had taken on the most powerful government on earth--he somehow managed to maintain his dignity. He was an elderly man in his later years, tall, with a dignified bearing. He didn't look like an accountant. He dressed in simple cloths and spoke very knowledgably about the Indian trust accounts. He was disheartened Mrs. Cobell never gave him any credit for his work in unveiling the trust fund abuses. He mused how she had hired her own PR firm as the lead IIM plaintiff.

He sat with me, we ordered more coffee and he seemed grateful just to be able to tell his story as it had played out in his own life. The repercussions as a whistleblower of the IIM abuses impacted Mr. Henry's life in a profound and negative way. His professional life was destroyed as a result of bringing the IIM trust fund thefts to light. He paid a heavy price.

I will always be grateful for David Henry--not only for doing his job, but for putting his own life and well-being on the line for Indian Country. Eloise Cobell's efforts are most noteworthy and she has fought a great battle. Her work was based in the tragic story of David Henry. He too--truly is a hero.