Native Americans have their own plans for Missouri River

The Winnebago tribe of Nebraska and Iowa is another group with a stake in the Missouri River. While some farmers and shippers want the water levels kept under control, the tribe’s Vince Bass says they want to get back land that was condemned and taken by the federal government years ago, and want the natural backwaters restored there. There are no backwaters and the tribe wants them re-created so they get back their hunting, fishing and recreation. In addition to Indian land on the river’s backwaters, Bass says the tribe has a commercial plan of its own for the river. They want a ferryboat to cross the river, since it cuts across their land. Bass just returned from the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, where he says the U-S Interior Department’s mishandling of Indian trust fund money is many native families’ equivalent of the Enron scandal.