Appreciating Diversity Film Series opens its 2019 documentary film series in Piedmont and Oakland with free showings of 100 Years-One Woman’s Fight for Justice.

When Elouise Cobell, a Blackfeet warrior from Montana, started asking questions about missing money from government-managed Indian Trust accounts, she never imagined that one day she would be taking on the U.S. government. But what she discovered as the Treasurer of her tribe was a trail of fraud and corruption leading all the way from Montana to Washington DC. 100 Years is the story of her 30-year fight for justice for 300,000 Native Americans whose mineral- rich lands were grossly mismanaged by the United States government. In 1996, Cobell filed the largest class action lawsuit ever initiated against the federal government. For fifteen long years, and through three Presidential administrations, Elouise Cobell’s unrelenting spirit never quit. This is the compelling true story of how she prevailed and made history.

The L.A. Times describes director Melinda Janko’s film as “a maddening but ultimately uplifting tale about a fearless woman who fought tirelessly for her people.” The Film Journal says, “…what emerges watching 100 Years is Cobell’s indomitable spirit and passion, her conviction in pursuing a case that seemed impossible to win.”

As a direct result of Cobell’s work, in 2009, President Obama announced the $3.4 billion Cobell Settlement. In 2010, Congress approved the Settlement and in June of 2011 the District Court of D.C. gave it final approval. Settlement checks began to go out to the beneficiaries in 2012. In addition to these payments, a $60 million Cobell Scholarship was established. Following the Settlement, the Obama Administration continued to buy back land from interested landowners, paying fair market price for the land. The purchased land has been returned to the Tribes to manage. With the finalization of the Cobell Settlement, now is the perfect time to tell the story of 100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE.

“If this type of egregious action had been inflicted on any other ethnic group, there would have been a tremendous public outcry.” — The late Senator John McCain (R) Arizona

“The United States government made a commitment, through solemn treaty obligations in 1887, to hold those lands in trust, to manage them wisely, and to give any income from the sale or lease of the land to its Indians owners. Our government has never fulfilled that promise.” — Former Senator Tom Daschle (D) South Dakota

“The Department’s handling of the Individual Indian Money trust has served as the gold standard for mismanagement by the federal government for more than a century.” —Federal Judge Royce Lamberth

100 Years- One Woman’s Fight for Justice will screen FREE:

IN PIEDMONT Thursday, January 24, 2019

@ Ellen Driscoll Playhouse / 325 Highland Ave / Piedmont

6:30 PM Doors Open, Reception

7 – 8:30 PM Screening

IN OAKLAND Sunday, January 27, 2019

@ The New Parkway Theater / 474 24^th Street / Oakland

12:30 PM Screening

For more information, contact Julie@diversityfilmseries.org