Tester recommends Cobell for nation's highest honor

Press release

To honor her significant contributions to Indian Country, Sen. Jon Tester is recommending Elouise Cobell for the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the nation’s highest civilian honor.

In a letter to President Barack Obama, Tester endorsed Cobell’s leadership and her fight for justice for Native American families.  Cobell was a Blackfeet tribal member who filed the landmark lawsuit Cobell v. Salazar, which led to the compensation of $3.4 billion to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans for the mismanagement of Indian trust land.

“Throughout her life, Elouise Cobell brought about real change in Indian Country and her story continues to serve as an inspiration and reminder to everyone that one person can truly make a difference,” Tester wrote.  “I urge you to honor Elouise Cobell’s legacy of fighting for the rights of Native Americans with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

Cobell’s case against the federal government was settled in 2009, thirteen years after it was originally filed in U.S. District Court. Cobell passed away just two years later in 2011. Tester attended her funeral.

The first distribution of Cobell payments was made to Native American families in 2013.  Additional payments through the Department of the Interior’s Land Buy-Back Program are ongoing, and to date, nearly $750 million in payments through the Buy-Back Program have been made to tens of thousands of Native Americans for selling their fractional interests in land to their tribe.