PABLO — The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe plans to issue $10,000 checks to about 7,850 enrolled tribal members this week, distributing about half the $150 million it received in a settlement over federal mismanagement of money and tribal trust lands.
Tribal members will start receiving their checks Wednesday and banks across the Flathead Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana reservation are preparing for the onslaught of transactions, the Missoulian reported.
The tribal council is still discussing what to do with the rest of the $150 million. Care of the elderly, economic development or language and culture preservation are among the ideas under consideration. Some tribal members wanted all the money distributed to individual tribal members.
The checks will be issued by Eagle Bank of Polson and that will be the only location that tribal members without bank accounts will be able to cash the checks.
“It’s been a little hectic,” Eagle Bank President Martin Olsson said Friday. “I fully anticipate we will have more people than we will be able to accommodate on Wednesday. We’ve encouraged people to wait until Thursday or Friday, when the lines might not be as long.”
The bank will not cash checks at the drive-up lanes and will limit the number of people allowed inside at any one time for safety and security reasons.
Olsson said he’s concerned about people carrying around large amounts of cash.
“If they come in and want cash we have to accommodate them,” Olsson said, “but if they’re going to take $5,000 a buy a car, we’re going to encourage them to buy a bank draft and not take that much cash with them.”
Other banks have said they will only cash checks from people who already have accounts and some will limit the amount of cash each person can obtain. The tribally-owned KwaTaqNuk Resort Casino in Polson has posted signs saying it will not cash the checks.
The payments will create an economic boost, said Community Bank President Gordon Zimmerman.
“It’s a great benefit to the tribal membership, especially during this economic downturn when a lot of people are struggling,” he said.
Parents or guardians of tribal members under the age of 18 will receive half of their children’s payouts, with the other half being retained by the tribes to issue when the minors turn 18.
The Department of Interior manages more than 100,000 leases on tribal trust lands and about 2,500 tribal trust accounts for more than 250 federally recognized tribes. The largest settlement is $193 million to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington, while the CSKT settlement was the second largest.
Members of the Northern Cheyenne tribe received about $2,000 each while Blackfeet tribal members received about $550.