Navajo Tribe of Indians v. United States

OPINION

LYDON, Judge:

In these Indian Claims Commission Act cases,1 plaintiff, The Navajo Tribe of Indians (hereinafter the Tribe), seeks to recover damages from the United States on the ground defendant breached fiduciary duties and obligations it owed the Tribe in the management and operation of the Tribe’s forest lands at various times during the period 1880 to the present. The claim, referred to as the “Timber and Sawmill” claim by the parties, actually embraces seven categories of claims and seeks to recover over $117 million. The Timber and Sawmill claim arose out of a demand by the Tribe…