36 Indian Gaming December 2016

PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

Elouise Cobell was posthumously awarded the highest civilian award of the United Statesin the final Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony under President Obama’s presidency.Her son, Turk Cobell, accepted the medal on herbehalf. Indian Gaming Magazine was honoredto attend the White House ceremony and spokewith Turk about the monumental event, hismother’s work and her historical legacy.

What did accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom fromPresident Obama on behalf of your mother, Elouise, meanto you?

It was with a tremendous amount of pride that I acceptedthe award on her behalf. The award confirmed what our family and close friends knew all along, which was that she wasan extraordinary Native American woman that was extremelybrave and courageous. We knew that our whole lives. The awardwas a culmination of all of the years of her courage and bravery. I was very proud. When I got the phone call, it was a‘knock-you-off-your-feet’ moment. To have her recognized withthe individuals on that stage really put things into perspectiveand emphasized how extraordinary she was and what she did.She was recognized accordingly with that group of people.

What would the award have meant to Elouise if she werehere today?

My mother was the type of person that didn't relish noto-riety or recognition. She would have said ‘this is absolutely notnecessary,’ but she would have relished the moment. Shewould have enjoyed the experience and been very grateful forit. At the same time, she would have said, ‘this is not necessaryfor me.’

What did you learn from her that you carry with you? There are a lot of people out there that need help and

assistance at various levels. If you can identify with and relate topeople, it's going to help not only you, but also everybody. Shewas very good at relating to and helping people from every walkof life. She knew what people needed and how to help them.

Financial literacy was a big deal in her life. When somebodytold her early on that she wasn’t smart enough to understandaccounting from the BIA, she mastered accounting. One thingI especially respected about her was her resolve and energy. Shewas non-stop and utterly relentless on things she knew to beright, or that needed changing or improving.

What do you remember from when she was fighting onbehalf of individual Native Americans in what became thelandmark Cobell v. Salazar settlement?

After she sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and madethat decision to sue the federal government, we shared manydiscussions – two to three times a week – about how things weregoing and the astonishing findings they were coming across withregard to the mismanagement of these individual trust fundsby the federal government.

In the process of something like this, you learn a lot aboutthe level of respect that the federal government has for NativeAmericans, or disrespect, however you want to put it. You learna lot about what lengths the federal government will go to coverup or not admit to what was wrongly done. You also learn a lotabout the federal government’s resources – a mass machine ofresources that really prevents a lot of individuals like mymother from stepping up and getting justice for individualAmerican citizens, and in this case, individual Native Americancitizens. The case was landmark and will be looked upon in lawstudies for years to come.

How did the settlement of Cobell v. Salazar impact Elouise? The settlement was bittersweet. The talks started at, as

you can imagine, a much larger number. The case primarilywas for the federal government to produce an accounting ofindividual Indian trusts. Eventually, it was determined that theycouldn't produce an accounting because there was never onedone. Experts came up with a settlement number once theystarted negotiations of well over $100 billion, which includedinterest. The plaintiff’s attorneys came to the conclusion thatthe federal government was never going to settle anything for$100 billion, so the 100 plus years of interest was taken off,which equated to approximately $20 billion. Interior and Treasury came back with a number that said, ‘we think we oweyou zero.’ That's where things started.

Elouise Cobell Posthumously Awarded Presidential Medal ofFreedom by President Obama

Turk Cobell and President Obama stand together in honor of Elouise Cobell.

December 2016 Indian Gaming 37

When the number of $3.4 billion was reached, it was mymother's decision to accept. It was a very difficult decisionbecause she knew the federal government owed more money.Everybody did. However, the case had been going on for 14 to15 years and every year that went by, hundreds of individualsin the class were dying. By stretching it out another couple ofyears, a few hundred more people in the class would have died.That was primarily what made her decision – people weredying and they needed to receive some justice before they died.It's extremely ironic that she happened to be one of them. Afterthe settlement was reached, unscrupulous attorneys filed anappeal and extended the case a couple more years. Her life waslost in that amount of time.

The components of the settlement are still playing out. A settlement is not perfect – the pure definition is you don't getentirely what you're looking for. However, hundreds of thousands of individual Native Americans received some sortof justice for the mismanagement of their individual lands.There are certain by-products that are going to be lookedupon for years to come as wonderful pieces of that settlement,one of which is the Cobell Scholarship. Another is the attemptto drastically reduce the amount of fractionated Indian landsacross reservations, which really hampered development on reservations with tribal governments. Those two components willbe long lasting for years to come and are a wonderful legacy.

Can you speak about the scholarship fund that was createdin her honor?

As a component of the settlement, the Cobell Scholarship was created and is a part of the land buy-back program. A portion of each one of the fractionated land sales done is transferred to the Cobell Scholarship Fund, now in its second academic year awarding scholarships. The response from NativeAmerican and Alaska Native students has been overwhelming.Indigenous Education has done a good job of administering thescholarship and there has been a tremendous response of applicants. It is one or the most important pieces of the settle-ment in that it will ensure my mother's legacy lives on much longerthan the other components of the settlement. It will touch so manymore people into perpetuity, which is what it was meant to do.

How has the Obama Administration impacted Indian Country?

If you look at the body of work his Administration has donewith Indian Country, it is more than any administration in termsof recognizing these wrongs and making them right, to somedegree, through the courts and finalizing of settlements on allof these cases that have been out there for years. He engagedIndian Country more so than any president that I've known fora long time. If you were to ask that same question across IndianCountry, I think you'd find the same response.

It doesn't stop here. There is a lot of work to do and oversightneeded. There is still a lot of fight that has to be maintained to ensure the rights of Native Americans and that the trust over-sight by the federal government is appropriate. That will never stop, but the amount of work President Obama has doneover these last eight years has been tremendous. The ObamaAdministration has meant a lot to Indian Country.

Elouise Pépion Cobell was a Blackfeet Tribal communityleader and an advocate for Native American self-determina-tion and financial independence. Born Elouise Pépion on theBlackfeet Reservation in Montana, she was the daughter ofPolite and Catherine Pépion. She graduated from Great FallsBusiness College and attended Montana State Universitybefore becoming treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation, whereshe founded the first national bank on a tribal reservation,Blackfeet National Bank. Cobell won a MacArthur geniusaward in 1997 for this work and for her efforts supporting Nativefinancial literacy. She went on to found the Native AmericanBank and served as director of the Native American CommunityDevelopment Corporation, inspiring Native American womento seek leadership roles in their communities.

Cobell used her expertise in accounting to champion a lawsuit, Cobell v. Salazar, which resulted in a historic $3.4 billion settlement, restoring tribal homelands to herbeloved Blackfeet Nation and many other tribes, and in sodoing, inspired a new generation of Native Americans to fightfor the rights of others. The landmark Cobell v. Salazar suitresulted in the largest ever settlement of a class action againstthe federal government. Part of the settlement funds went topartially compensate more than 500,000 Native Americans, aswell as fund the buy back of fractionated lands to be restoredto Native American tribes. As part of the settlement, the $60 million Cobell Eductation Scholarship Fund was alsoestablished in her honor.

In December 2010, President Obama met with Elouise Cobell in the OvalOffice prior to signing the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 into law. OfficialWhite House Photo by Pete Souza.

Elouise Cobell (1945-2011)

40 Indian Gaming December 2016

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NationalBasketball Association’s all-time leadingscorer; a six-time NBA Most ValuablePlayer and a 19-time NBA All-Star. In addition, Abdul-Jabbar has been anoutspoken advocate for social justice.

Ellen DeGeneres is an award-winningcomedian who has hosted The EllenDeGeneres Show since 2003 with hertrademarked humor, humility, and

optimism. She also hosted the AcademyAwards twice. Ellen is a passionate advocate for equality and fairness.

Robert De Niro has brought to lifesome of the most memorable roles inAmerican film during a career that spansfive decades. He is a seven-time AcademyAward nominee and two-time Oscar winner. He is also a Kennedy Centerhonoree.

Richard Garwin is a polymath physi-cist who made pioneering contributionsto U.S. defense and intelligence tech-nologies, low-temperature and nuclearphysics, detection of gravitational radiation, magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), computer systems, laser printing,and nuclear arms control and nonpro-liferation. He directed Applied Researchat IBM’s Thomas J. Watson ResearchCenter and taught at the University of

Chicago, Columbia University, andHarvard University. The author of 500technical papers and a winner of theNational Medal of Science, Garwinholds 47 U.S. patents, and has advisednumerous administrations.

Bill and Melinda Gates establishedthe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in2000 to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries,the foundation focuses on improving

"The Presidential Medal of Freedom is not just our nation's highest civilian honor - it's a tribute to the idea that all of us, no matter where we come from, have the opportunity to change this country for the better,” said President Obama.

PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

The 21 distinguished honorees include...

December 2016 Indian Gaming 41

people's health and giving them the chanceto lift themselves out of hunger andextreme poverty. In the U.S., the missionis to ensure that all people – especiallythose with the fewest resources – haveaccess to the opportunities they need tosucceed in school and life. The GatesFoundation has provided more than $36billion in grants since its inception.

Frank Gehry is one of the world’sleading architects, whose works havehelped define contemporary architec-ture. His best-known buildings includethe Walt Disney Concert Hall in LosAngeles, the Dancing House in Prague,and the Guggenheim Museum buildingin Bilbao, Spain.

Margaret H. Hamilton led the teamthat created the on-board flight softwarefor NASA's Apollo command modulesand lunar modules. A mathematician andcomputer scientist who started her ownsoftware company, Hamilton co-createdthe concepts of asynchronous software, pri-ority scheduling, and human-in-the-loopdecision capability.

Tom Hanks is one of the Nation’sfinest actors and filmmakers. He hasbeen nominated for the Academy Awardfor Best Actor in a Leading Role five

times, and received the award for hiswork in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.Off screen, as an advocate, Hanks hasadvocated for social and environmen-tal justice, and for veterans and theirfamilies.

Grace Hopper (posthumous awardaccepted by her grand-niece DeborahMurray). Rear Admiral Grace Hopperwas at the forefront of computers andprogramming development from the1940s through the 1980s. Hopper’swork helped make coding languagesmore practical and accessible, and she created the first compiler, which translates source code from one languageinto another.

Michael Jordan is one of the greatestathletes of all time. Jordan played 15seasons in the NBA for the Chicago

Bulls and Washington Wizards; he iscurrently a principal owner and chairmanof the Charlotte Hornets. During hiscareer, he won six championships, fiveMost Valuable Player awards, andappeared in 14 All-Star games.

Maya Lin is an artist and designerknown for her work in sculpture andlandscape art. She designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.and has pursued a celebrated career in both art and architecture. She is acommitted environmentalist bringingawareness to the planet's loss of habitatand biodiversity.

Lorne Michaels is a producer andscreenwriter, best known for creatingand producing Saturday Night Live, whichhas run continuously for more than 40 years. In addition, he produced TheTonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, LateNight with Seth Meyers, and 30 Rock. He has won 13 Emmy Awards over thecourse of his lengthy career.

Newt Minow is an attorney with along and distinguished career in publiclife. After serving in the U.S. Armyduring World War II, Minow served asa Supreme Court clerk and counsel tothe Governor of Illinois. In 1961,

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President Kennedy selected Minow, then34, to serve as Chairman of the FederalCommunications Committee (FCC),where he helped shape the future ofAmerican television and was a vigorousadvocate for broadcasting that promotedthe public interest. In the five decadessince leaving the FCC, Minow has main-tained a prominent private law practicewhile devoting himself to numerous public and charitable causes.

Eduardo Padrón is President ofMiami Dade College (MDC), one ofthe largest institutions of higher educa-tion in the United States. During hismore than four decade career, PresidentPadrón has been a national voice foraccess and inclusion. He has worked toensure all students have access to highquality, affordable education. He haschampioned innovative teaching andlearning strategies making MDC anational model of excellence.

Robert Redford is an actor, director,producer, businessman, and environ-mentalist. In 1981, he founded theSundance Institute to advance the workof independent filmmakers and story-

tellers throughout the world, includingthrough its annual Sundance Film Festival. He has received an AcademyAward for Best Director and for LifetimeAchievement.

Diana Ross has had an iconic careerspanning more than 50 years withinthe entertainment industry in music,film, television, theater, and fashion.Diana Ross is an Academy Award nom-inee, inductee into the Rock & RollHall of Fame, recipient of the GrammyAwards highest honor, the LifetimeAchievement Award, and recipient ofthe 2007 Kennedy Center Honors.

Vin Scully is a broadcaster who, for67 seasons, was the voice of the Brooklyn

and Los Angeles Dodgers. In SouthernCalifornia, where generations of fanshave grown up listening to Dodgerbaseball, Scully's voice is known as the"soundtrack to summer." In 1988, hewas inducted into the National BaseballHall of Fame. His signature voice broughtto life key moments in baseball history.

Bruce Springsteen is a singer, song-writer, and bandleader. The stories hehas told, in lyrics and epic live concertperformances, have helped shape Amer-ican music. Springsteen is a KennedyCenter honoree and he and the E StreetBand he leads have each been inductedinto the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Cicely Tyson has performed on thestage, on television, and on the silverscreen. She has won two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, and is knownfor her performances in Sounder, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and The Help. In 2013, shereturned to the stage with The Trip tothe Bountiful, and was awarded the Tony Award for best leading actress.Tyson received the Kennedy CenterHonors in 2015. ®

PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM

“From scientists, philanthropists, and public servants to activists, athletes, and artists, these21 individuals have helped push America forward, inspiring millions of people around theworld along the way."