The landmark 1999 Keepseagle class-action lawsuit against the USDA for systemic discrimination in its farm lending programs resulted in tens of millions of dollars in payments directly to Native American farmers and ranchers for mistreatment. One of its most lasting legacies may be the endowment of the Native American Agriculture Fund with $266 million left over from the 2011 settlement of the case, said the lead attorney in the case on Monday.
The trust will be the largest philanthropy dedicated exclusively to serving the Native American community. It has up to 20 years to distribute funds to nonprofit groups providing business assistance, agricultural education, expert advice and advocacy service to Native Americans in agriculture, said the law firm Cohen, Milstein, Sellers and Toll.
“We look forward to seeing the Native American Agricutlure Fund move forward to bring benefits to Indian farmers and ranchers beyond what litigation alone has provided,” said Joseph Sellers, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs. The fund “could turn out to be one of the most lasting legacies of this case because it will create the largest nonprofit insitution to serve Native Americans in the history of this country.”
The Keepseagle lawsuit followed in the heels of the settlement of the so-called Pigford case, which challenged discriminatory USDA policies toward black farmers.
With the Supreme Court clearing the way, the Keepseagle case “has come to a close” with distribution of the remaining money from the $680 million that was awarded, said the Cohen Millstein law firm. There were two years of litigation over the distribution of the $304 million that was left over. Some $38 million was divided among nonprofit groups and $266 million went to the agriculture fund.