Indians to march on Washington to demand Trust case resolution
Oh, what I would give to go.
Washington rally to show support for Cobell case
Tuesday, April 4, 2006Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the Indian trust fund lawsuit, is planning a big showing in Washington, D.C., next week to show support for the 10-year-old case amid Congressional settlement efforts.
In a display of unity, Cobell will be joined by tribal leaders, individual Indian landowners and other supporters on the day of a major court hearing. Next Tuesday, the D.C. Court of Appeals is hearing the Bush administration's attempt to remove Judge Royce Lamberth from the case and overturn a computer security ruling.
Prior to the start of oral arguments, Cobell, tribal leaders and drummers from the Blackfeet Nation will meet at 8:30am at the federal courthouse near the U.S. Capitol. The hearing starts at 9:30am and is expected to last at least an hour.
After the hearing, the group will march a short distance to the National Museum of the American Indian. Tex Hall, the most recent president of the National Congress of American Indians; Jim Gray, the chief of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma; Mary Johnson, a Navajo landowner from Utah and others are scheduled to speak.
The gathering comes two weeks after the most recent Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on legislation to settle the Cobell lawsuit, filed in June 1996. Tribal leaders and groups representing Indian landowners want to show Congress they stand united, particularly in light of a recent news article that incorrectly indicated some disagreement on the scope of the matter.
sniff....