Economy, distrust complicate allocation of tribal settlement money

When the Obama administration announced in April that it would pay 41 tribes some $1 billion to settle a lawsuit over federal mismanagement of trust funds, many saw it as a sort of stimulus package for Indian Country -- a chance to invest in long-term development and infrastructure, such as schools, clinics and roads.

"The seeds that we plant today will profit us in the future," Gary Hayes, chairman of southwestern Colorado's Ute Mountain Utes, told the Associated Press. "These agreements mark a new beginning, one of just reconciliation, better communication … and strengthened management." His tribe, which received $43 million, initially planned to distribute about $2,000 to each of its 2,100 members, dividing the rest -- about 90 percent -- between the tribe's general fund and investments. The Utes have long wanted to build a school on the reservation and improve health care.

But a few months later, Hayes was facing a recall election over the plan, and all the funds were being distributed on a per capita basis, under pressure from tribal members. The same response has echoed from tribe to tribe across the West -- one that speaks to both the hard economic times and the lack of trust in leadership in Indian Country...