Burgum’s Indian Probate Push Returns Millions to Native Families

Native families are getting paid. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has made Indian probate a priority, and the results are adding up. Federal probate for trust land and trust accounts often takes years because ownership passes through generations of heirs, as Native News Online noted. Faster answers mean real dollars back in Native homes.

Indian Probate Surge Returns Millions to Fort Berthold Families

On May 22, 2026, the Interior Department announced that a Probate Strike Team surge at the Fort Berthold Agency in North Dakota, home of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, had returned $28 million to tribal beneficiaries. Two weeks later, Interior reported that Fort Berthold beneficiaries received a record of nearly $66 million in May distributions, which Burgum said “far surpasses anything seen before.” Interior and Indian Affairs also closed 379 probate cases nationwide that month, including cases in Arizona, Alaska, and Oklahoma.

Trust Accounts Belong to Native Families, Not Washington

The Bureau of Trust Funds Administration manages more than 414,000 Individual Indian Money accounts and more than $8.8 billion held in trust, with revenue from oil, gas, coal, timber, grazing, and surface leases. Every dollar in those individual accounts belongs to Native people. When paperwork stalls, families wait on income from their own land while Washington holds the keys. Closing these cases honors tribal sovereignty and keeps the federal trust promise.

Arizona Families Should Check Their Indian Probate Status

The strike team has already held surge events in Arizona, so families with a pending case should call the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 888-678-6836 or visit their local agency office. Our guide on why probate matters in Indian Country explains the basics. Results like these show what an accountable government can do! Keep the pressure on until every case is closed.