Trust Beneficiary Call Center 

Toll-free: 

1-888-678-6836 

Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm 

Saturday, 8 am to 12 noon 

Mountain Time

TRUST MATTERS

Department of the Interior — 

Office of the Special Trustee for 

American Indians 

June 2006 

Volume 5, Issue 2 

Call Center Extends 

Hours of Operation 

In March 2006, OST extended 

the hours of the toll-free Trust 

Beneficiary Call Center. In 

addition to regular hours, staff 

is now available to respond to 

Indian trust beneficiary calls 

on Saturday mornings from 

8 am to 12 noon, Mountain 

Time. 

Since opening, December 3, 

2004, the Trust Beneficiary 

Call Center has: 

x Responded to more than 

125,000 calls. 

x Resolved 89% 

of all inquiries 

without having 

to escalate the call 

to another department. 

Toll-free: 1-888-678-6836 

Last year, Interior staff found an Indian beneficiary with a trust account who 

was on the Whereabouts Unknown List. The man was working two jobs and 

struggling to pay his bills. After his identity was confirmed, 

Interior was able to distribute his trust funds to him. The 

man was then able to buy a new house, a new car, and quit 

one of his jobs. 

 In the fall of 2003, there were more than 67,000 Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders on the Office 

of the Special Trustee for American Indians’ Whereabouts 

Unknown (WAU) list. Interior had more than $88 million 

to distribute to these people. The list and total amount of 

funds were steadily growing. 

By the end of 2005, the number of IIM account holders on the Whereabouts Unknown list had dropped by 23,024 people to 44,692, and more than 

$24 million had been distributed.

In those two years, as part of its Indian trust reform efforts, Interior devoted 

new resources to finding these people in order to disburse their funds to them. At 

the end of 2003, OST dedicated a staff member whose primary responsibility was 

to oversee efforts to find WAU beneficiaries. OST also began hiring Fiduciary 

Trust Officers to serve as the primary point of contact with beneficiaries on a variety of issues, including locating WAUs. Interior entered into contracts with two 

search agencies to find people with the largest accounts. Interior staff, and these 

contractors, are conducting data searches and using returned mail with forwarding addresses and tribal enrollment lists to identify people on the list. Trust officers 

also are reaching out to beneficiaries at community 

events, and the list is posted online at www.doi.gov/ost. 

Many of the people on the list are not even aware they 

have an IIM account. Some of the accounts were established as early as 1906. In some cases, Interior lost 

 (continued on page 2)

What a Difference a Day Makes: Finding 

Trust Beneficiaries Whose Whereabouts 

Are Unknown 

To help with the search for WAU beneficiaries, Interior hired an investigation contracting company. In the first three and a half months on the job, staff at this company 

located individuals associated with 140 accounts, who had a total of more than $3.5 

million in Indian trust funds. 
Page 2 Trust Matters 

(from page 1) contact with the individual through relocation, adoption or other events. Most new WAU now occur as a 

result of the probate process when heirs’ addresses are not known. Assets held in WAU accounts range from a penny to 

over $400,000. 

Staff and contractors follow all leads to find people on the list. Recently, a contractor who is a fluent Navajo 

speaker—and understands the cultural ways of the Navajo—learned that a Navajo man who had in excess of $230,000 

in a WAU account was tragically killed in an auto pedestrian accident. The contractor gathered the necessary records 

and death certificate and is working to get the funds distributed to the heirs. Just before Christmas, contractors found 

another WAU account holder who had been "praying her heart out" that somehow she would have enough money to 

take care of her children and grandchildren. Numerous data searches revealed that this woman had used at least 11 different names. There were more than 300 pages of reports to analyze, but ultimately, staff was able to tell this woman she 

had more than $175,000 in an account. The beneficiary tearfully thanked the contractor for "not giving up the search." 

OST’s Fiduciary Trust Officers Continue To Help 

Beneficiaries with Trust Issues 

The Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians has a workforce of Fiduciary Trust Officers (FTOs) working in 

Indian Country. These FTOs serve as the primary point of contact with Indian trust beneficiaries. Here are a few recent 

examples of the many ways FTOs help beneficiaries. 

Finding Whereabouts Unknown Beneficiaries: Progress Report 

Mitchell Stephens and his team at the Horton, Kansas office found more than 111 people on the Whereabouts Unknown list in 2005. Staff members were able to disburse more than $260,775 to these beneficiaries. 

According to Stephens, “We are a small agency here in Horton, but it feels like we can make a positive impact on 

people’s lives.”

Selman Roach, in the Ute Mountain area, was 

told by a social worker that there was a beneficiary 

in great need of a new mobile home. Roach researched the case, and found that the beneficiary 

was classified as non compos mentis, or in need of 

supervision, and was therefore unable to access 

her Indian trust funds without certain permissions. Roach worked to 

obtain the proper forms and necessary court papers, and was able 

to make IIM funds available for the purchase of a new mobile home 

for the beneficiary. 

Robert Craff, in Arizona, was able to help a 

beneficiary who had sold her land through the 

Indian Land Consolidation Office. It turns out that 

after the sale, the Veterans Administration (VA) 

told the beneficiary’s family that the sale would 

negatively affect the family’s Veteran’s benefits. 

Craff worked with the VA and the family to reverse 

this decision, and ensure that the family still received all its benefits. 

Craff has recently been selected as the Regional Trust Administrator for the Navajo and Western regions, based in Albuquerque, NM. 

Henry Ware and the team in Western Oklahoma worked into the late hours before Christmas last year to help get some tribal trust leases 

approved just before the holidays. Members of 

local tribes were able to receive a per-capita payment increase of about $180 to $200 each. According to Ware, “Unemployment rates in the 

region are astronomical and every cent is important to our beneficiaries who live from check to check. This money allowed our 

beneficiaries to enjoy their holidays with a few more dollars for 

food and gifts.” 

Glenda Miller, in Alaska, worked with local BIA 

staff and Tribal Realty Service Providers to help 

an elderly beneficiary who wanted to sell a portion of her allotment. The beneficiary had received an offer for the land, but Miller counseled 

her to take extra time and advertise the property 

for sale. In the end, the beneficiary received 

$150,000 more than the initial offer for her property. Miller adds, 

“The beneficiary has a limited income. This additional income 

with have a dramatic impact on the quality of her life.” 
In the Field: Northwest Appraisers and Appraisals 

Volume 5, Issue 2 Page 3 

Rena Sanford has been caught in a snow storm with a 

flat tire in the middle of nowhere. Ken Carmack has driven 

across fields and streams to get to a parcel of land. Tom 

McCorquodale got his vehicle stuck in a mud hole and had 

to be rescued by a local beneficiary. All of these things happened in the course of a day’s work as an Indian trust appraiser in the Northwest Region Office of Appraisal Services (OAS). Each of these appraisers tells their story with 

a smile on their face. No matter what challenges OAS employees face in meeting their goals to support the Fiduciary 

Trust Model—tackling a backlog of appraisals, dealing 

with inclement weather and driving cross-country—they 

are proud of their work. 

Sanford, the Northwest Regional Supervisory Appraiser and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe, explains, “Our territory—covering Oregon, Washington, 

Western Montana, Idaho, and one location in Alaska—has 

it all: desert, mountains, waterfront, agriculture, urban 

landscapes. In any given month we can be appraising a lake 

shore home, a right of way through a wheat field, property 

on the side of a mountain, or an island in the Pacific Ocean.” 

Appraisals are a critical element to the management of 

trust land. They are used to determine the fair market value 

of the use of an Indian trust asset. If someone wants to set up 

a grazing permit or build a communications tower on Indian 

trust land, an appraisal is required to provide the beneficiary 

with information on the fair market value of that activity. An 

appraisal request with land and title documents is submitted 

to OAS from the realty office. The appraisal is then completed for the Indian beneficiary to support transactions on 

trust land. 

Like all OAS appraisers, Sanford’s staff follows strict 

Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice 

(USPAP) and Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal 

Land Acquisitions (UASFLA) 

guidelines. Her appraisers 

have many decades of combined experience. Some have 

spent a number of years doing appraisal work in the private sector. Each has a Certified General Appraiser state license. As well as their field work, Sanford and her staff are 

tackling ongoing appraisal program changes. 

As part of Interior’s trust reform efforts, the Office of 

Appraisal Services is now operating under a Memorandum of 

Understanding between the National Business Center and 

OST. Interior has hired experienced top-level management 

across the country to establish a streamlined nationwide 

process that meets the highest fiduciary standards. 

The main focus these days, across the nation, is to address a backlog of appraisal requests to support trust transactions. Sanford’s staff is working with area contractors to reduce and prioritize backlogged requests. Her staff also spends 

time carefully reviewing the contractors’ appraisal work. 

Sanford also is fine-tuning day-to-day processes and—like all 

appraisal offices around the country—working to make them 

more efficient for beneficiaries. 

McCorquodale adds, “This is important. My favorite 

appraisal work is trust land. I’ve been able to make friends 

on every reservation I work on. One member of the 

Quinault Reservation showed me where his grandfather 

taught him how to canoe, and told me where he watched Mt. 

St. Helens erupt. He became a tribal spiritual leader after 

that. There are many good hearted people throughout this 

territory.” 

Left to right. Standing: Ken Carmack (enrolled Colville); Thomas McCorquodale, 

Anson Baker (enrolled Mandan Hidatsa), Larry Zumwalt, Front Row: Carmen 

Holt (enrolled member Oglala Sioux), Dawn Cordts-Buendia (enrolled Siletz), 

Rena R. Sanford (enrolled Blackfeet). Not Pictured: Ernie Flechsig, Phil Graf. 

Thomas McCorquodale

Where Appraisals Fit in Indian Trust Management 

Guidelines Governing 

Appraisals

Changes in Appraisal Services 

Quick Definitions: Checkerboard Effect. Land within reservation boundaries may be in a variety of types of 

ownership—tribal, individual Indian, and non-Indian, as well as a mix of trust and fee lands. The pattern of 

mixed ownership resembles a checkerboard. —From the Indian Land Tenure Foundation 
Department of the Interior 

Office of the Special Trustee 

for American Indians 

1-888-678-6836 

A Brief Look—The 

Office of the Special 

Trustee is responsible 

for: 

@Processing about 

34,000 trust transactions per day (8.5 

million transactions

for the year). 

@Issuing more than 

500,000 checks for 

Indian trust beneficiaries per year. 

@Processing approximately $300

million in annual receipts from leases, 

use permits, land 

sales, and interest 

earned on deposited 

funds for some 

277,000 open Individual Indian Money 

accounts each year. 

@Processing approximately $500

million in annual receipts from sources 

including judgment 

awards, settlements, 

and use of tribal resources in 1,450

tribal accounts for 

over 300 tribes. 

@Managing and investing approximately $2.9 billion in 

tribal funds and $400 

million in individual 

Indian funds. 

Interior’s Initiative to Update Indian Affairs 

Trust-Related Regulations 

Reforming the Indian trust and improving the way Indian Affairs’ business is managed at the Department of the Interior is paramount to this administration. For many years, 

Interior staff has been working—with the 

help of Congress and tribal leaders—to enact 

reforms for the management of the Indian 

trust. Now, to implement many of the remaining reforms and procedure changes, Interior is working on a regulatory initiative to 

update trust-related regulations. 

The goal of the initiative is to allow the 

Secretary of the Interior to further fulfill the 

Department’s fiduciary responsibility to Indian tribes and individuals; provide tribes and 

individuals with greater control over their 

interests; allow Interior to better meet beneficiaries’ needs; and meet the trust management goals in the Indian Land Consolidation 

Act, as amended by the American Indian 

Probate Reform Act (AIPRA). 

One of the most pressing of these regulatory changes involves AIPRA. This legislation creates a uniform federal Indian probate 

code to replace the multiple state and tribal 

laws that now govern probates of Indian trust 

assets. AIPRA allows small “fractionated” 

interests in land to pass exclusively to single 

heirs when there is no will involved, and allows greater flexibility for individuals and 

tribes to consolidate and acquire interests 

during the probate process. Most of the provisions of AIPRA are scheduled to take effect 

this June, but to fully implement the new law, 

Interior must update regulations to: ensure 

that the information necessary for land consolidation tools is included in the probate file; 

modernize valuation methods; and clarify 

procedures for Secretarial approval of tribal 

probate codes. Interior also expects to 

streamline the process of probating Indian 

trust estates. 

For many months, experts—from the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of the Solicitor, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, and more—took a thorough look at Title 

25 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(Indians) and identified possible improvements. In addition to the probate-related 

changes, the experts offered preliminary recommendations for changes on land records 

and title documents, land acquisitions and 

conveyances, leasing, and grazing. They also 

introduced new sections covering whereabouts unknown account holders, administrative accounting and appeals processes, and 

fees. 

At the end of 2005, Interior sent copies 

of the preliminary draft regulations to tribal 

leaders and representatives of Indian organizations. Staff then held meetings with organizations such as the National Congress of 

American Indians, the Inter Tribal Monitoring Association, and others. Interior has held 

tribal consultation meetings in Albuquerque, 

NM and Portland, OR. At press time, staff 

was compiling comments and preparing to 

publish the draft regulations in the Federal 

Register for public comment. More consultation meetings are being planned with tribes 

after publication. 

Staff inputs public comments into a database at an Indian Affairs regulations consultation meeting in Portland, OR 

(left), and helps register attendees at the consultation meeting in Albuquerque, NM (right). 

Quick Definitions: Undivided Interest. A share of the ownership interest in a parcel of trust 

land is referred to as an undivided interest. The number of interests grows with the division 

among heirs of these interests according to probate laws. The income derived from the parcel is divided according to the interest held by an individual.—Indian Land Tenure Foundation.