# Quapaw Tribal Settlement Act of 2024

The federal government is authorizing a payment of $137.5 million to settle a long-standing legal dispute involving the Quapaw Nation and certain members of the tribe. This money comes from a court case called Bear v. United States that has been working through the federal court system since 2013. A federal court panel reviewed the case and recommended this settlement amount, and this bill makes that payment official.

The money will be deposited into a special trust account managed by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Trust Funds Administration. However, the tricky part is figuring out how to divide this $137.5 million among all the people who are entitled to it—the Quapaw Nation as a whole and individual tribal members who were part of the original lawsuit. The bill sets up a process to make this decision. First, all the parties involved have 45 days to try working with a neutral mediator to agree on how to split the money. If they can reach an agreement through mediation, the money gets distributed according to their plan. If mediation doesn't work, they have up to 18 months to keep trying to reach a deal on their own.

If the parties still can't agree after 18 months, the Secretary of Interior steps in and holds a formal hearing where each side presents its case for how the money should be divided. The Secretary then makes a final decision about the distribution based on the original court recommendation. This entire process is designed to give the Quapaw Nation and individual tribal members the best chance to work out a fair division themselves before the government has to impose a solution.

Quapaw Tribal Settlement Act of 2024

Brecheen, Josh

Quapaw Tribal Settlement Act of 2024This bill creates a trust account, funds the account,&nbsp;and establishes a distribution process to settle certain claims between the federal government and the&nbsp;Quapaw Nation (a tribe in Oklahoma).&nbsp;Specifically, the bill establishes&nbsp;the&nbsp;Quapaw Bear Settlement Trust Account and directs the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Trust Funds Administration to administer all funds appropriated to the trust account.&nbsp;Interior must make payments to the tribe and individual members of the tribe in accordance with the January 2020 recommendation of the review panel of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.The bill outlines the distribution process for the settlement funds in the trust account.