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for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn said in a statement. "While we know that it will be a challenge to reach all landowners, we are committed to exhausting all efforts to make sure that individuals are aware of this historic opportunity to strengthen tribal sovereignty by supporting the consolidation of tribal lands."
• According to Interior Department estimates released last year, there are more than 92,000 land tracts on tribal lands with 2.9 million fractional interests. Of that number, more than 21,200 land tracts have 100 or more owners and many parcels have thousands of owners.
• Before the buyback program began in December, officials had estimated that Pine Ridge held more than 6,000 tracts with nearly 200,000 purchasable fractional interests, which had made it increasingly difficult to manage the land for economic development and other uses.
• The cultural liaison for the land buyback program in the reservation, Maxine Broken Nose, on Tuesday said the first wave of lands that were sold between late December and mid-January gave a boost to the reservation's economy. Payments to sellers during the first round of buy backs exceeded $10 million. The department said some individuals received more than $100,000.
• Broken Nose said some individuals who sold their fractionated interest spent some of their money in the community and one even built a general store on the reservation.
• The 10-year buyback program is the largest part of the $3.4 billion settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by Elouise Cobell of Browning, Mont., in 1996 and finalized in 2012.
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