Victory at last for the butchered Navajo Nation: Tribe gets $550 million from US government in largest ever tribal settlement

·        The Navajo Nation said leases on its land, once largely overseen by the government, were mismanaged and the revenue not properly invested

·        Public meetings will be held to ask Navajos how they think the money should be spent 

·        Tribal members have suggested that it be set aside for future generations or used for business development 

·        Tribes across the country have filed more than 100 breach-of-trust cases against the U.S. government 

·        Since April 2012, the federal government has resolved about 80 cases, totaling $2.5 billion 

The Navajo Nation is poised receive half a billion dollars from the federal government over mismanagement of tribal resources in the largest settlement of its kind for a single tribe.

The tribe has fought government legislation for decades for proper compensation for its people - many of whom live in abject poverty - after companies were allowed to use its lands.

Much of the land on the 27,000-square-mile reservation - in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah - has been leased for farming, grazing, oil and gas development, mining and housing.

The leases once were largely overseen by the government, which mismanaged the revenue and failed to properly invest and account for it, according to the tribe. 

Scroll down for video 

+10

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly (left) and Vice President Rex Lee Jim (right) sign the agreement for a settlement of $554 million from the federal government in Window Rock, Arizona in May. The settlement was awaiting signatures from federal agencies to be finalized

+10

A Navajo family outside their traditional dwelling called a hogan on a Navajo reservation - the tribe sued the U.S. government over a mismanagement of tribal resources and won

+10

Navajo women and children sell jewelry for tourists in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in a reservation blighted by poverty. The government has just agreed to pay the Navajo Nation a half a billion dollar settlement - which tribal members suggest should be set aside for future generations or used for business development

The accord will be formally signed at a ceremony on Friday in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the sprawling Navajo reservation. 

The tribe, which has a population of 250,000, agreed to settle the case earlier this year but was awaiting signatures from federal agencies before the $554 million deal could be finalized. 

The Navajo Nation originally sought $900 million when the lawsuit was filed in 2006.

'We had a strong claim,' said Navajo Nation Council Delegate Lorenzo Curley.

Public meetings will be held to ask Navajos how they think the money should be spent, Curley said. The first meeting is scheduled for October. 

Already, tribal members have suggested that it be set aside for future generations or used for business development, he said. 

The deal does not preclude the tribe from pursuing future trust claims, or any separate claims over water and uranium pollution on its reservation, Navajo Attorney General Harrison Tsosie said.  

An investigation in 2012 found that 40 per cent of the tribe were living without electricity and running water.  

Navajo Nation wins $550m pay-out from government

+10

Much of the land on the 27,000-square-mile Navajo reservation - in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah - has been leased for farming, grazing, oil and gas development, mining and housing

+10

An old house stands near sandstone formations south of Rock Point on the Navajo Reservation, Arizona. The tribe, which has a population of 250,000, will hold meetings to decide where the settlement money will be spent

+10

A Navajo boy sits in his bedroom at the family's hogan. In a 2012 report, it was found that 40 per cent of the tribe were living without running water or electricity

A LONG AND BLOODY WALK TO JUSTICE FOR THE NAVAJO NATION 

The Navajo Nation - whose lands encompasses parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico - stretches across 27,000 square miles and is larger than ten American states.

The land holds some of the U.S. most dramatic scenery including Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly. 

In the beginning, the Navajo were hunters and gatherers who took up crop farming when they learned techniques from the native Pueblo people.

+10

A group of Navajo riders on horseback pass through a desert canyon in 1904

Archaeological work has revealed that the Navajo and Apache peoples were present in the Southwest region of the U.S. from around 1400 AD.

Navajos traded with the Pueblo community in the 16th century and then by the 18th century, the Spanish were reporting on Navajo farming communities.

In 1846, the Navajo first made contact with the United States of America when General Stephen W. Kearny and his troops marched into Santa Fe during the Mexican-American War.

A peace treaty was signed in 1846 but it was not honored on either side.

In the next decade, the U.S. comandeered more and more of Navajo land, building forts and setting up trading posts.

 In 1861, a series of military campaigns started against the tribe including the scorched earth campaign - where U.S. troops killed Navajo men and women and burning their crops.

Facing starvation or being killed, the Navajo surrendered and were imprisoned in 1863.

From 1864, 9,000 Navajo people were forced into what is referred to as the 'Long Walk' - when the tribe were marched at gunpoint 300 miles from their original lands by the U.S. government to be interred at Bosque Redondo.

The move was a catastrophic failure - there was not enough food and water for the thousands of Navajo and disease was rampant among the tribe.

Finally two years, later a treat between Navajo leaders and the federal government allowing the surviving Navajo to return to a reservation on a portion of their former homeland.

Andrew Sandler, one of the Navajo Nation's attorneys on the case, said the tribe has taken on much of the responsibility for leasing on its land. 

If further disputes arise with the federal government, the settlement outlines a process to resolve them.

'This was viewed as an appropriate and respectful settlement where the federal government acknowledged its responsibility and acted in an honorable way,' Sandler said.

+10

Navajo people protest along the highway near Cameron, Arizona, on June 23, 2013 to protest Florida aerialist Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk over the Little Colorado River Gorge. Wallenda plans to perform the stunt without a safety harness on the Navajo reservation

'It was a good result for all parties, and appropriate result for all parties, and it creates finality.'

Tribes across the country have filed more than 100 breach-of-trust cases against the U.S. government. 

The Navajo Nation settlement is the largest, exceeding the next highest amount by $170 million, Sandler said.

The Interior Department said it is working to resolve cases with other tribes without going to trial. 

Since April 2012, the federal government has resolved about 80 cases, totaling $2.5 billion.

Sandler said the Navajo Nation should receive its money within 60 days.

+10

A Navajo Chapter Meeting circa 1890. The tribe has fought the U.S. government for generations to be properly compensated for use of their land - and have finally been awarded half a billion dollars 

+10

Navajo women shearing sheep in the late 19th century. The tribe has battled the U.S. government for generations to be fairly compensated for the use of its lands