Ute tribal leaders deny allegations

FORT DUCHESNE, Uintah County — Ute Tribe Business Committee Chair Maxine Natchees said allegations by tribal members that they haven't been kept updated on plans by the tribe to take control of $190 million in "water settlement" funds are false.

She said tribal members have been told "over and over and over" by their leaders of plans to withdraw the money from the Office of Trust Funds Management (OTFM) and to invest them.

According to Natchees, a referendum vote in 2000 that approved the tribe's "financial plan" included information that stated the tribe would attempt to have their millions removed from OTFM because of low rates on interest.

"There are certain criteria that we had to meet assuring that we can manage the funds ourselves," said Natchees. "This was all based on the fact that the tribe believed the federal government was not managing the funds. They were receiving very little, maybe 1 percent investment on the funds. And that's why we did what we did. It's all in the spirit of self-determination."

The money was awarded to the tribe in the mid-1990s under the Central Utah Water Completion Act. The settlement is the tribe's compensation for the federal government's breach of a 1965 agreement to provide water storage on the reservation in return for tribal water used in the Central Utah Project Bonneville Unit, which supplies water to the Wasatch Front.

Natchees said there are no specific plans in place right now to put the money to use on new buildings, housing or infrastructure. The tribe plans "to maximize the benefits from these funds so the tribal accounts can build," she said.

"We are always looking for ways to benefit the membership through jobs, through employment. What I envision is we will reach financial stability with this tribe. It takes money to build these programs. We have great needs in housing, education. Once we get enough money we can afford these things."

The money was transferred directly to Bear Sterns, said Natchees. The New York-based company is a worldwide investment banking and brokerage firm.

According to the company's Web site, Bear Sterns ranks as the number one most trusted securities firm in America.

However, the responsibility of managing the tribe's money will fall to two companies selected by tribal financial advisor John P. Jurrius. Dolan McEniry Capital Management out of Chicago will manage the tribe's millions and Haase Advisory Services was hired by Jurrius as a "consultant to assist the tribe with the selection of its money managers and the overall design of its portfolio." No information on either company was available on the Internet.