Tribal and Other Trust Funds and Individual Indian Monies Trust Funds Managed by the U.s. Department of the Interior Office of the Special Trustee for

Publisher Marketing: The legislation that authorizes the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior (Secretary) to manage the Tribal and Other Trust Funds recognizes the unique trust relationship that exists between the Indian tribes, individual Indians, and the United States Government (U. S. Government). Agreements between the U. S. Government and the various Indian tribes, many of these in the form of treaties, recognize the sovereignty of tribes. During the course of the United States'history and the U. S. Government'sevolving policies toward Indian tribes, the trust relationship has retained characteristics based upon tribal sovereignty. The United States Congress has designated the Secretary as the trustee delegate with responsibility for the financial and nonfinancial resources held in trust on behalf of American Indian tribes, individual Indians, and other trust funds. In carrying out the management and oversight of the Indian trust assets, the Secretary has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure monies are received for the use of Indian lands and the extraction of natural resources from Indian lands, distribute such monies collected to the appropriate beneficiaries, ensure that trust accounts are properly maintained and invested, and ensure that accurate and complete reports are provided to the trust beneficiaries in accordance with applicable law.