Feds to pay $940M to settle claims over tribal contracts

The Obama administration has agreed to pay a group of Native American tribes nearly a billion dollars to settle a claim that the government failed to adequately compensate tribes for education, law enforcement and other federal services.

Justice Department and Interior officials plan to announce the proposed settlement Thursday along with leaders from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Zuni Pueblo and Ramah Chapter of the Navajo Nation.

The lawsuit first filed in 1990 argued plaintiffs had been shorted on federal contracts to run programs that fulfilled the U.S.’ trust obligations to tribes.

More than 600 hundred tribal entities, including governments and their organizations, belong to the class represented in the lawsuit.

The $940 million settlement must be approved in federal district court.