Federal Indian coal leases paid pennies per ton on coal worth dollars

Evidence

Nor were the terms equitable, as even the federal government itself acknowledges. According to the 1976 American Indian Policy Review Commission Report, “Measured by international standards, the leases negotiated on behalf of Indians are among the poorest agreements ever made.” According to the commission, the royalties were too low and fixed, ignoring the increase in the value of production. Hence, many leases were signed for between 15 and 35 cents a ton for coal, which had a market value between 4.67 (1968) and 18.75 (1975). Another problem was the fact that most lease provisions allowed for the continuation of mining “as long thereafter as minerals are produced in paying quantities.” — Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations, 440

Categorization

• XREF: Direct numerical anchor for the BIA-as-trustee-failure claim that parallels the legal-terrain reading of Johnson v. M’Intosh land theft by government trusteeship. — connects to: The BIA sold Mdewakanton land rights for $178 with no local benefit — Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for…, 554