that involves some 300,000 Individual Indian
Money account holders has already been filed
against the federal government (see entry for
JUNE 10, 1996). That suit claims that possi-
bly billions of dollars cannot be accounted for.
In that case the BIA admits years of improper
management of the accounts but argues that the
money is not missing. In 2005, Judge Emily C.
Hewitt of the U.S. Court of Claims will rule on
the government’s argument that the Osage roy-
alty mismanagement claims are invalid because
they were made too late. She will hold that the
statute of limitations does not apply to the Osage
case, which will be interpreted as a boon to the
plainiffs of Cobell v. Norton.
March
Artifacts are transported from the Heye
Collection to the Smithsonian.
Trucks carry load after load of the 800,000 ob-
jects left by Indian art collector George Gustav
Heye when he died in 1957. The Heye Col-
lection also contains an 86,000-image photo
collection. Ground has been broken the pre-
vious fall for the 10th and final Smithsonian
museum on the Capitol Mall—the National
Museum of the American Indian (see entry for
NOVEMBER 28, 1989). The original concept for
the museum building design—which will have a
huge copper dome and be built of clifflike lime-
stone—came from Canadian Blackfoot architect
Douglas Cardinal (see entry for 1993). (See also
entry for SEPTEMBER 21, 2004.)
March 7
California voters approve proposition
allowing the expansion of tribal gaming.
By a landslide, Californians vote nearly two to
one to approve Proposition 1A, which amends
the state’s constitution to permit Las Vegas–style
gambling on Indian land. Gaming tribes have
spent more than $21 million in their campaign
for the proposition, while a mere $44,000 was
spent by gambling opponents. Experts estimate
that the expansion of California Indian casinos
could raise revenues from $1 billion to more
than $4 billion annually. Although only a frac-
tion of California Indians will profit directly
from the measure, gambling tribes agree to share
a portion of their profits with other recognized
tribes in the state.April 7Notah Begay III competes in the Masters
Tournament.
Professional golfer Notah Begay III shoots 74
at the Masters Tournament, thereby becoming
the first Indian to compete in the event. A Na-
vajo raised on the Iseta Pueblo Reservation in
New Mexico, Begay began playing golf at age
six. After high school, he was recruited by Stan-
ford University, where he established himself as
a leading player while earning a degree in eco-
nomics. At Stanford, he also became friends
with fellow teammates Tiger Woods and Casey
Martin, who later joined him on the profes-
sional circuit.April 17President Clinton announces a plan to
provide low-cost phone service on Indian
reservations.
As part of a $17 million initiative to help low-in-
come communities access the Internet and keep
them from being left behind in the information
revolution, President Bill Clinton announces a
plan to offer dollar-a-month phone service to up
to 300,000 Indians across the country. He trav-
eled to Shiprock, New Mexico, on the Navajo
(Dineh) reservation to make his speech after a
letter was written to him by Myra Jodie, a 13-
year-old Navajo girl who won a computer but
was unable to use the Internet because her home
did not have a phone. Only about 22 percent
of Navajo on the reservation have phone service;
many also lack electricity.