I think of my grandmother everytime I deal with the government officials. She knew I would have the same battle as she did and the same battle as her family did, before her.
My mom told me that back in 1968 my grandma said, "The government syphons money designated for Indians." It hasn't changed a lick. But, grandma knew how to raise hell because she received stumpage fees not long after that.
Grandma is gone now. So is my father and pretty much everyone else in the family I could talk to. And there are new sets of government officials that I have to pick the brains of, and it's hard trying find information that I can believe in.
I don't believe in much anymore. And this is why. This is how stupid the feds think I am .........
I was told this by someone in New Mexico last week:
In 1987, $1.08 was deposited into my father's account for grazing fees. "There has never been a withdrawal from this account." The operator's words, verbatim.
In 2002, I had called into this same agency and gave my father's account number over the phone, mind you, to an operator and was told the balance was .3 cents in the account. I remembered this.
When my father's account was closed very recently, the same agency said I had inherited $13.- This is plus the interest. Soooooo, for the last 21 years grazing fees and interest in a government account has been accumulating to the tune of .61 cents a year.
Also, no documents are being sent. I have requested information that has never been sent. On my probate sheets, There are no listings of any land that my grandmother told me about. The location mentioned is in a state park in southern California! The acreage calculated is in the hundreds, yet estimated at $2,500.- per acre it is valued at less than $6,000.-
Here's what I've found, hoping that other Indians will find what rightfully belongs to them. Join me and my Indian Elder in backing up the current cases being fought for us. The more there are of us, the stronger our fight. Thank you, Eloise Cobell for paving the path for us.
http://www.narf.org/cases/iimgeninfo.htm pay close attention to 'Answers to Questions Commonly Asked by Individual Indian Trust Beneficiaries'
Then, I recommend calling OST 1-888-678-6836 and giving them every native name in the family. There could be money and property you never knew about.
Try here http://www.lawyerfinder.com/lawfirms/practice/98/probate.htm and find either a probate lawyer, or a good referral to Indian Legal Aid.
This is a great site for news:
http://www.indianz.com/
Bombard every Indian agency phoneline you can find and document everything .
