Born to be a warrior

Cobell's unwillingness to give up on the case may be attributed, at least in part, to her parents. She said the values they instilled in her are ones that have stuck with her throughout the lawsuit.

"They always tried to teach us-my brothers and sisters and me-to be strong," Cobell said. "To be leaders, and to always be very proud of who we were . our Indian culture was very rich."

One of nine children, Cobell grew up near Browning, a great-granddaughter of the warrior Mountain Chief, the last hereditary leader of the Blackfeet. She went to a one-room country school for much of her elementary school years, and then graduated with a class of about 30 kids from Valier High School.

Some of Cobell's early teachers made a lasting impression on her. One, she remembered, ordered a copy of The New York Times for her students, which opened a new world for Cobell.

"I'd read The New York Times and think, 'My God, this stuff is happening in other parts of the country!' Then I'd wonder, 'Will I ever get to New York City or Washington, D.C.?'"

After high school, Cobell graduated from Great Falls Business College and then attended MSU for a year before leaving to be close to her dying mother. Still eager to see other parts of the country, she lived and worked in business administration and accounting in Denver and Seattle before she and her husband, also a member of the Blackfeet Nation, decided to move back to the reservation.

"When we went to my parents' ranch and took (it) over, the real important stuff started hitting home, like the landscapes and the importance of community," Cobell said.

And since she returned to the Browning area, Cobell has worked hard to make her community a better place.

In 1987, she helped launch the Blackfeet National Bank in Browning, the first Indian-owned financial institution in the country. In 1994, when Browning was selected to participate in the Rural Development and Community Foundation Initiative, Cobell developed activities that promoted the viability and sustainability of the community with the Blackfeet Recycling Center, endowment activities and the student-run "Mini Bank" in the local middle school. In 1997, Cobell was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, often called the "genius grant," and applied her $300,000 award, given with no strings attached, to the lawsuit expenses.

More recently, Cobell has served as executive director of the Native American Community Development Corp., a nonprofit affiliate of Native American Bank. In concert with The Nature Conservancy, she also has worked to protect land on the Blackfeet Reservation from development.

"I am convinced you can only achieve independence through economic sovereignty," Cobell said. "That's why it's so important to have financial institutions (like the Native American Bank) and continue to help students understand the finance world.

"We've got to be players in our lives," she added. "We cannot have the government running our lives . I am tired of politicians running my life and managing my money. I don't want that to happen anymore."

Cobell recently has been quoted that she is happy that the Obama administration appears to be taking a positive view of the case. And during testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee this spring, new Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he "will try to bring (the case) to conclusion."

If and when the settlement money from Cobell v. Salazar comes through, Cobell imagines a new beginning for the members of Indian communities.

"I think that Indian communities would have an opportunity for a really big change," she said. "Individual Indians that are living in poverty, living in shacks, could actually have control of their assets. They could probably be living in mansions, because a lot of them are sitting on oil wells that are pumping constantly."

While Cobell v. Salazar is on appeal before a panel of three judges, Cobell looks forward to the day when she can put the lawsuit past her.

"I always tell people that one of these days, when this is all over, I'll probably raise chickens and grow a garden," Cobell said. She's also eager to spend more time with her family, including her son, Turk, who lives out of state with his wife and Cobell's first grandchild. But Cobell concedes that the fight could go on for a long time.

"I swear I will fight until we get a victory," she said. "We might have to go all the way to the Supreme Court, but we'll do it.

"We've got to make the system work. I have to make it work for Indian people, because their lives depend on it."

Photo by Stephen Hunts

Return to regular view	Text-only	Published: 4/27/2009