BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – The chancellor of the tribal college in Bismarck has been named as a representative of a scholarship program that is part of a $3.4 billion government settlement with Native American landowners.
United Tribes Technical College Chancellor David Gipp, who is Sioux, was appointed by the Denver-based American Indian College Fund to serve as its representative on the Cobell Board of Trustees.
The settlement is named for Blackfeet Tribal citizen Elouise Cobell of Browning, Montana. She filed the lawsuit in 1996
The settlement was finalized in 2012 and resolved historic claims of government mismanagement of royalties on Indian lands.
Besides paying hundreds of thousands of landowners, the settlement sets aside up to $60 million for scholarships for Native American students.