People ask what our daughter Alyce does. Usually I answer that she works in Washington for the Department of Interior. If they want to know more--and sometimes they actually do--I might say, "She works for the Department of Interior, Office of Historical Trust Accounting. They work on the lawsuits the Indian tribes have brought against the federal government, in which they claim mismanagement of funds held in trust. Something like that." I always hope that what I have said is correct.
By the time I have finished the explanation, their eyes may have glazed over or they've left the room. In truth, some say, "How interesting."
But today, Alyce posted a link to a story that would tell something about what she does. I went to the link and read the story, and it actually reports on a huge settlement with more than 300,000 individuals as part of the suit. Can you imagine?
Here's the link:
http://www.doi.gov/news/09 New Releases/12089.html
You can copy that link and go there.
Alyce claims she cannot take all the credit for this settlement, and I have not spoken to her about it today, but I know for sure she has had both of her very capable hands in it.
That's what she does. So, now what will she do? I'll have to ask.
I'll also have to ask if we should give all the credit to the Obama administration, which is pretty much what the news release does. I can't deny them credit, because I just don't know much. But I do know that the department has been working on this for many years, long before Obama. This is not what I want to write about. I'm writing about Alyce.
I hope Alyce will leave a comment.
2 comments:
Your hopes are not vain. What you say when people want to know more is correct.
The story I posted is actually about the one lawsuit against Interior that I've had almost nothing to do with. When I went to Albuquerque over and over in 2004, I was working on that case. But since then, I've been working on tribal cases, not this one. So my very capable hands haven't been in it. Sorry to disappoint.
The story does shed some good light on what I do. But for tribes and not individuals.
here's an NYT story that goes into a bit more detail. some of those details are wrong, and I won't comment on what Cobell says (unless you call and ask).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09tribes.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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