HELENA — Interior Department officials say they have transferred to a scholarship fund the full $60 million agreed to under a government settlement with Native American landowners.
The scholarship fund is part of the $3.4 billion settlement led by the late Elouise Cobell, who sued over decades of lost and mismanaged royalties the government owed to American Indian landowners across the nation.
Interior officials said Tuesday the final transfer was made to the fund for Native American technical training and higher education.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement the program advances President Donald Trump’s commitment to tribal sovereignty and education.
The program and the settlement were finalized in 2012 under then-President Barack Obama’s administration.
The statement says $5.25 million has been awarded to nearly 1,000 students so far.