By JORDAN STRICKLER

Kentucky Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In what is the largest Native American philanthropic institution in history, the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) has been established to disperse $266 million to aid Native farmers as part of the 2010 Keepseagle v. Vilsack lawsuit settlement.

The NAAF is a trust created as part of the modified settlement to fund programs through nonprofit organizations over the next 20 years. “This is a monumental day for Native American communities nationwide,” said lead counsel Joseph M. Sellers of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.

Sellers, who launched the case 19 years ago, added, “Today we bring a landmark legal case, and hopefully with it, a regrettable part of our nation’s history to a close.”

In the original suit, filed in 1999, a group of Native American producers led by George and Marilyn Keepseagle of the Standing Rock Sioux nation asserted the USDA discriminated against them in their attempt to procure loans from the agency from 1981-99.

According to a former USDA economist as part of the original 2010 case, Native Americans suffered actual economic losses amounting to $776 million between 1981-2007 as a result of receiving less than their fair share of credit opportunities.

On April 28, 2011, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved a settlement of $680 million between Native American farmers and ranchers and the USDA, but payments issued on the initial round of claims in 2012 left roughly $380 million of the settlement undisbursed.

Since then, the distribution of the remaining funds has been the subject of extensive negotiations and protracted litigation. In 2016, a District of Columbia district court confirmed the decision to allocate the funds among the plaintiffs, nonprofits and a trust fund aimed at giving long-term assistance.

However, two of the class claimants appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, stating that all remaining funds should be awarded a second time to those who had previously received damage compensation, and that other organizations did not have the right to any of the settlement funds.

That court affirmed the District Court ruling, on May 16, 2017. Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court, on March 26, declined to hear an appeal to the distribution plans, effectively bringing the case to a close and paving the way for the final payments.

Some nonprofits have already been awarded $38 million to use on projects including scholarships and research grants in agriculture, extension programs for 36 tribes, a new national community development bank and new services to assist Native farmers with legal and loan paperwork.

“The conclusion of Keepseagle is a very exciting time for Native American agriculture. Class members and other Native American producers will reap significant benefits from these cy pres (used as near as possible to original intent) funds,” noted Christine E. Webber, the plaintiffs’ class counsel.

“There is great need in Indian country for funding worthwhile projects, and even $38 million could not cover every request. The proposals we received, however, demonstrated an engaged and invested interest across Indian country to ensure that agriculture will sustain Native communities now and in the future.”