Tribes announce member payments from settlement

An amount equal to the Colville Tribes’ “Ramah settlement” will be distributed to Tribal members through per capita payments on December 5, Colville Business Council Chairman Dr. Michael Marchand said last week.

“The Colville Business Council has determined that a per capita distribution in an amount equal to the Tribes’ Ramah settlement funds will be made to our Tribal members,” Marchand said. “We intend to take that step as soon as possible.”

The Tribes’ share of the Ramah settlement, reached in the class action case of Ramah Navajo Chapter, et.al. v. Sally Jewell, is approximately $13.4 million. The CBC Management and Budget Committee today approved per capita payments of $1,410 for each enrolled Colville member, subject to routine “holds,” such as court-ordered child support payments and reimbursements to Children and Family Services and Social Services programs.

“The Business Council recognizes that many people in our tribal communities lack basic necessities which others may take for granted, and we hope this distribution will help to make their lives better,” CBC Management and Budget Chairman Jack Ferguson said today.

“This action is in the best interests of our tribal members and their families,” Marchand said, “and in the best interests of the Colville Tribes as a whole.”

The Ramah settlement stems from a 1990 class action lawsuit alleging that tribes were shorted in payment of indirect costs in carrying out contracts under contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Self Governance under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

The settlement, for the years 1994 through 2013, is for a total of $940 million nationally.