The Office of the Special Trustee
The Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians provides department-wide oversight for the reform of federal Indian trust management and the implementation of new federal fiduciary and accounting systems. The Special Trustee for American Indians, a presidential appointee, heads the office and reports directly to the Secretary of the Interior. The Special Trustee oversees reform efforts of the department relating to the trust responsibilities of the Secretary.
Cobell v. Salazar Lawsuit
In December 2009, the departments of the Interior and Justice reached a settlement on the long-running Cobell class-action lawsuit regarding the federal government's management and accounting of more than 300,000 individual American Indian and Alaska Native trust accounts. A fund totaling $1.4 billion will be distributed to class members to compensate them for their historical-accounting claims, and to resolve potential claims that prior U.S. officials had mismanaged the administration of their trust assets. In addition, the settlement establishes a $2 billion fund for the voluntary buy-back and consolidation of fractionated land interests. Secretary Salazar also established the framework for a Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform to oversee future management and administration of trust assets.