100 Years Page #7

the settlement dollar amount,

it was left blank.

On behalf of the chairman

and myself and other members

of the committee,

thank all of you

for taking the time to come

to Washington, DC, today

and to give us

the opportunity to continue

talking with you

about this important issue.

If you're ever going to take

on an adversary in life,

I would not suggest

you pick Elouise.

The fact is, in this case,

she is dead right.

She feels aggrieved,

but not just for herself,

for all American Indians

who have been victimized.

[sirens wailing]

[Elouise] DC is a little bit

different from the country

and the landscape

that I come from

on the Blackfeet nation.

[dogs barking]

[Elouise] When I would

leave Washington

after spending

a lot of time in trials and...

I would drive home, and...

I would look at the

Rocky Mountains when

I'd drive into my driveway,

and, um, all of a sudden,

all of the stuff

in Washington went away,

and the mountains

pumped you up with

all kinds of energy, and...

and I was, once again,

ready to go back to war,

ready to ride

right into the middle

of the cavalry again.

It's been a long process,

but I never, ever forgot

who I was fighting for.

[Lamberth] "For those harboring

hope that the stories of murder

dispossession, forced marches,

assimilationist

policy programs,

and other incidents of cultural

genocide against the Indians,

are merely the echoes

of a horrible bigoted

government past,

this case serves

as an appalling reminder

that, even today,

our great democratic enterprise

remains unfinished."

[inaudible]

I've never been

so ashamed of anything

than to see

the Federal Government

bring him up

on charges of bias.

He's a very

outspoken character.

He says what's on his mind.

And it's almost refreshing

to see it in print...

because, so often,

you wonder about

the smoke and mirrors

that come from the department

and how it could possibly be

that up is down and...

and, uh, in is out.

[Elouise] I don't think

that any race of people

would ever have to fight

the fight that we're fighting.

You know,

where could you go and find,

uh, that a judge

would be removed

because he based

his decisions on facts

and Native people

were winning?

And it's very disappointing

that the appellate court

would remove our judge,

but they did.

And I think that people

will look back upon that

as one of the darkest days

for the DC Circuit

Court of Appeals.

I hope I will ultimately

be known as a judge

who just calls them

as he sees them.

And, uh, you know,

I did what I thought was right.

It doesn't mean

I always was right. Uh...

But I did what I thought

was right under the law

that applied to the facts

as I understood them.

You think about,

every day that you live

in your Indian communities,

every single day,

four or five older people die.

And you haven't got them

any money.

You haven't done anything.

You've worked

ten years and-- plus,

and you haven't got them

one cent.

You haven't got them

one cent.

And they've died.

So...

[clears throat]

...you compromise.

[sighs]

So, um, $8 billion.

Well, maybe...

maybe we can settle

for $8 billion.

But, um, right before,

um, the day before,

in the late hours

before Senator McCain

was going to do

the markup on the bill,

um, the bill was pulled

by the White House,

by the administration.

And the administration said

that they needed more time

to review the bill.

Yeah. Ten years of litigation.

Ten-plus years of litigation.

They had...

The bill was introduced

over a year ago.

But they needed more time.

And so, basically, we all knew

what the tactic was

of the administration.

It's to stall again,

stall it again until

a new administration comes in,

and it's not

on George Bush's watch.

They know they owe it.

They know they have

the liability.

But they're stalling.

They continue to stall.

[man] And Senator Obama

will carry the state.

Right now, take a look

at the actual vote.

51% for Obama,

49% for McCain.

He's up by 61,820...

[Elouise] I've always

told people

over and over,

the stars are aligned

for individual Indians

to get justice.

I want to start

by acknowledging a few people

who have worked so hard

to allow us to be here today

on this wonderful occasion.

It began when Elouise Cobell,

who is here today,

charged the Interior Department

with failing to account

for tens of billions of dollars

that they were supposed

to collect

on behalf of more than 300,000

of her fellow

Native Americans.

Elouise's argument was simple.

The government, as a trustee

of Indian funds,

should be able to account

for how it handles that money.

Now, after 14 years

of litigation,

it's finally time

to address the way

that Native Americans were

treated by their government.

This bill will provide

a small measure of justice

to Native Americans

whose funds were held in trust

by a government charged

with looking out for them.

And that's why I am

so extraordinarily proud

to sign this bill today.

Thank you very much.

[applause]

Done.

[drum beating]

[drumming and chanting]

It's our victory march.

Victory.

[chanting continues]

[Tom] The strength

you find in Elouise

comes from her words,

comes from her resolve,

comes from the inner strength

that she exudes

every time you talk to her,

comes from the confidence

in knowing

how determined she will be

to fight this until it is won.

We'll go that way

and up the stairs.

[drums beating]

[Tom] We're going

to be talking

about Elouise Cobell

the way we talk

about Rosa Parks

50 years from now.

She's a great American,

who stood up

for the rights for her people,

and in doing that,

that expands the rights

for all Americans.

Today was a very special day.

Let's give the legal teams

a nice round of applause.

[applause]

[drums beating]

-And thank you, thank you all.

-[cheering]

If you'll make a big circle,

we'll do a round dance

and hold hands.

[chanting]

[Elouise speaking

over speaker phone]

What we have accomplished

is historical.

It has been one of the most

difficult challenges

I have ever faced.

...to some of the most

honorable people

in this country,

I am deeply grateful

that this court

has not failed us.

[Yuna]

Sometimes, far across

The winter plain

Call my name

Softly, tears of rain

Run down my cheek

Whispering

A power full of fear

And nowhere left to run

A cold and lonely end

And promises undone

Before the rising sun

Hold on and take my hand

A falling star

Into the spirit land

Ooh

Sometimes

Far across

The winter plain

Call my name

[man] Come on!

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