Native Americans demand billions from US in land profits suit

A judge has hinted he would not award Native Americans the 46 billion dollars they have demanded in a lawsuit charging the US government cheated them out of profits from land held in trust since the 1800s.

After hearing closing arguments that followed a 12-year marathon legal battle, US District Judge James Robertson on Wednesday indicated he was not ready to endorse an amount in the tens of billions of dollars as argued by lawyers representing the Native American plaintiffs.

The judge said he believed what was in dispute was whether the remedy should be in the millions or billions, or "10 digits or nine digits."

Lawyers for the Native Americans said the government had failed to pay out tens of billion dollars in oil, timber, mineral and grazing royalties from lands held in trust by the Department of Interior since 1887.

"Today, 500,000 Native Americans look to Washington with hope," plaintiffs' lawyer William Dorris told the court.

"They are not asking for a handout. They are simply asking for what is theirs."

Judge Robertson said an absence of reliable figures made it difficult to arrive at an equitable amount for the American Indians. AFP