Lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice are close to settling a 11-year-old discrimination case filed by Native Americans against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

 

In Keepseagle v. Vilsack, plaintiffs in the class action suit contend the USDA discriminated against Native Americans in their applications for Farm Service Agency loans and loan servicing while white farmers received loans and better service.

 

No word yet on how much of a settlement the plaintiffs might receive.

 

The case first began in 1997, when ranchers George and Marilyn Keepseagle of Fort Yates, North Dakota, believed federal farm officials had not fairly decided on their loan application. The Keepseagles alleged the USDA’s farm loan program forced them to sell 380 acres of family land in 1999, creating financial problems and pushing them into foreclosure. The lawsuit, which was filed in November 1999, asks for compensation for Native Americans who were denied loans or debt servicing by the USDA between 1981 and 1999.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

USDA Native American Case Moves Closer to Resolution (by Jerry Hagstrom, Congress Daily)

Fact Sheet about Keepseagle, et al. v. Vilsack (Cohen Milstein) (pdf)

Will Obama's USDA Atone for Decades of Racism? (by Kari Lydersen, AlterNet)

Obama Misstates Cobell Case (by Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today)