Elouise Cobell Pioneered Native Banking

The first American bank owned by a Native American tribe was Blackfeet National Bank, which Elouise Cobell, also known as "Yellow Bird Woman," helped establish in 1987. While serving as treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation, Cobell noticed that income from leases and resources on Native American land did not match federal accounting records. In 1996, she became the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit accusing the U.S. government of mismanaging trust funds belonging to more than 300,000 Native Americans. The case produced a $3.4 billion settlement that received final approval in 2011.

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