Elouise Cobell
A Small Measure oF Justice
BY MELINDA JANKO A
s I was driving the long stretch of Highway 89, from the Great Falls airport to the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Mont., to meet with Elouise Cobell, I wondered how many miles she had driven over the course of her lengthy court battle known as Cobell v. (in succession) Babbitt, Norton, Kempthorne and Salazar. How many miles had she logged on planes to and from Wash- ington, D.C., where she was holding the federal government accountable for
its mismanagement of billions held in Indian Trust Funds? How many nights had she spent away from her beloved family and home on the Blacktail
Ranch in Blackfeet where she was raised? How many steps had she taken, how many hours had she waited in a courtroom with her lawyers and accountants through the many years of litiga- tion? What kind of person does it take to muster the courage, commitment and sacrifice needed to sue the U.S. government? On that two-hour stretch of highway from the Great Falls airport to Browning there is plenty of time to think. I can’t imagine all the thoughts that ran through Cobell’s mind in those countless hours of quiet solitude. What I do know is what kept her going: her passion for righting an historic wrong and her love for her people.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 27
OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY PETE SOUZA
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