For those without scorecards, Ross Swimmer was the Chairman of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) at one point in time, before he moved over to the BIA. He's pretty much the epitomy of "BIA Indian". From the Cobell v. Norton list. Enjoy.
Yesterday morning, Special Trustee for American Indians, Ross Swimmer, cut off all communication with Indian Trust beneficiaries in retaliation for an order entered by district court judge, Royce Lamberth, on September 29, 2004.This spiteful and cynical response comes after the Court entered an order to protect trust beneficiaries and required proper notice before any BIA sale or transfer of Indian land. Swimmer has specifically stated that the BIA will now cut off checks, cancel community meetings and will no longer meet with Indian Trust beneficiaries.
In the long and tortured history of this litigation, this is as low as Interior has ever sunk. The order issued by the court on Wednesday was to ensure that beneficiaries are provided information regarding the status of their trust assets. Instead, Swimmer has turned that order on its ear and declared that no information will be provided to beneficiaries. This is just the latest despicable chapter of the government's administration of the individual Indian trust assets.
As a result of these retaliatory actions, we asked the court to hold an emergency status conference to address this illegal and reprehensible action. Judge Lamberth has granted the meeting for 3 pm this afternoon. We will report back to you later today on the status of the meeting.
We are pleased to report that at a 3 PM hearing today, the federal district court in Washington, DC, stopped the Department of the Interior's brazen attempt to retaliate against trust beneficiaries for seeking to enforce their rights in the Cobell v. Norton litigation. The actions taken by the government to harm individual Indians include, but were not limited to, withholding trust checks, withholding information regarding beneficiaries' trust assets, canceling meetings with beneficiaries and refusing to speak with beneficiaries.In no uncertain terms, the district court judge, Royce Lamberth, made it clear that such despicable actions constitute retaliation against the Indian beneficiaries and referred to the government's arguments as "preposterous" and a "lie."
The Court made it clear that such retaliatory actions are to cease immediately.