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SPEAKER_06: In 1995, Detective Tony Richardson was trying to figure out who killed a fellow officer. The case comes down to who is believed and who is ignored.
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SPEAKER_01: This episode of Womanica is brought to you by BetterHelp. When it feels like my to-do list is starting to take over my life, the first thing I often sacrifice is getting to appointments. Even if those appointments are in support of my mental health, BetterHelp makes it easier to make a healthier decision. It's not a crisis line, it's not self-help. It's professional counseling done securely online. I wanna help you start living a happier life today. As a Womanica listener, you'll get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at betterhelp.com slash EW. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P, .com slash EW. Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I'm Jenny Kaplan, and this is Womanica. It's critical that Indigenous women are given their rightful space in the historical record. This month, we're highlighting Indigenous women from around the globe. Today, we're talking about an incredible woman who took on the United States government. She's a woman who was born in the United States, and she's a woman who was born in the United States. This is a woman who took on the United States government. She fought tirelessly for federal accountability in one of the largest class action lawsuits ever filed against the US, and she won. Let's talk about Eloise Cobell. Eloise Cobell was born on November 5th, 1945 on the Blackfeet Reservation in what's known as Montana. Eloise, also known as Yellow Bird Woman, was the great-great-granddaughter of an esteemed mountain chief of the Blackfoot Nation. He was known for his refusal to compromise with the US government. Later in life, Eloise said, "'A little bit of him trickled down to me.'" Eloise was a middle child of eight siblings. Her parents owned a small ranch, and like many people in her community, they didn't have access to running water or electricity. Life was hard for young Eloise. Three of her siblings didn't make it past childhood. During her youth, Eloise listened to the stories adults shared around her. Often, they talked about the BIA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, grossly mismanaging money. The BIA's roots go back as early as 1775, but the BIA as we know it today began in 1947. One of the responsibilities of the organization is to properly manage Native American-owned land and any proceeds made from its lease and trusts. The stories that Eloise heard about the BIA impacted her views of finance and justice. Eloise was a bashful kid with a thirst for knowledge. When she was four years old, her father built a one-room schoolhouse on the reservation.
SPEAKER_01: One day, while visiting the school with her father, Eloise refused to leave until she was told she could attend classes there. She said the school opened her eyes. It introduced her to a world outside the reservation. After attending elementary and middle school there, Eloise attended and graduated from a high school 50 miles away. Eloise was good with numbers, and she started to notice things with the BIA weren't adding up. Over the years, she noticed the BIA gave her family sporadic checks for tiny amounts without any explanation. When she was 18 years old, she began looking into the matter. At the time, BIA agents told her she didn't know what she was doing, so she started studying accounting at Great Falls Commercial College and later studied business at the University of Montana. In college, Eloise interned for the BIA and witnessed many other people get dismissed when they asked about their accounts. In 1976, Eloise became the treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation. She kept running into issues with the BIA when it came to the tribe's assets. When she'd make a note of a discrepancy or ask for explanations, officials would tell her to learn how to read financial statements. Feeling humiliated but not defeated, Eloise continued to keep track of discrepancies and sought different financial avenues for her tribe. In 1983, the only bank on the reservation closed, and no other banks wanted to open a branch. Most banks didn't want to deal with tribal jurisdiction, so to close the gap, Eloise founded the first bank owned by a tribe. The Blackfeet National Bank, which is now called the Native American Bank, started with $1 million in capital. Over the course of 10 years, its assets grew to $17 million. The bank provided secure financing across indigenous communities. Then, in 1996, Eloise and the Native American Rights Fund filed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior for mismanagement of funds. The lawsuit claimed that the BIA had been abusing the Indian trust fund for over a century, causing indigenous people to live in impoverished conditions without alternatives. The lawsuit took more than a decade to settle. Eloise and her lawyers agreed to a $3.4 billion settlement, including $1.5 billion for the members of the lawsuit, $1.9 billion for a land consolidation program, and $60 million for a college scholarship fund for Native American youth. It took another year for Congress to actually appropriate the money from the settlement. In December of 2010, the final signing ceremony took place in Washington, D.C. President Obama credited the moment
SPEAKER_01: as a step towards a sincere reconciliation between the federal government and indigenous peoples. Six months after the signing, Eloise passed away from cancer. She was 66 years old. After her death, a small note remained taped to her computer. It read, First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. All month, we're honoring the legacies of indigenous women. Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. As always, we'll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday. Bye.
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