Cobell, a member of Montana's Blackfeet Tribe, came to national attention when she and four other Native Americans filed suit against the Interior Department, insisting the government explain why it mishandled billions of dollars held in trust for Native Americans. Some of the money came from Native American lands leased for grazing or oil and gas drilling purposes, according to the Native American Times.
Neither the Native American activists nor the government knew completely how much property Indians owned or what they were fully owed for its use, says the Washington Post, because the Interior Department failed to keep accurate reports. Cobell decided to take action as she realized how many people on the Blackfeet reservation alone may have been owed money and were in poverty.
