MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) – Four tribes in the Dakotas that claimed tribal money and trust lands were mismanaged have received more than $100 million through settlements with the federal government.

The federal government is paying more than $1 billion to dozens of tribes across the country that worked to reclaim money they said was lost in mismanaged accounts and from royalties for oil, gas, grazing and timber rights on tribal lands. The settlement was announced in April.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota and South Dakota is getting $49 million, Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle told The Daily Republic newspaper (http://bit.ly/UOZajG ). In South Dakota, the Rosebud Sioux are getting $20 million, the Lower Brule Sioux $18 million and the Crow Creek Sioux $14.5 million.

Other tribes are in negotiations with the Justice Department, according to Hornbuckle.

It is up to the tribes to determine how to spend the money, he said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced Monday steps the federal government will take to implement a $3.4 billion settlement between the United States and Native American land trust beneficiaries.

The settlement was reached in 2009 following years of litigation in which Montana resident Elouise Cobell, who is now deceased, argued government officials mismanaged billions of dollars in land royalties held in trust for Native Americans.

–––

Information from: The Daily Republic, http://www.mitchellrepublic.com