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TAHLEQUAH, OK - A public meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m., May 1, at the Cherokee Nation Tribal Complex south of Tahlequah to discuss and analyze Individual Indian Money (IIM) Accounts. The Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs Eastern Oklahoma Regional Office, headquartered in Muskogee, will have IIM meetings throughout the area April 24 through May 2. The meetings are part of a directive from Congress to develop a reconciliation process to evaluate the reliability of past IMM account activities.

Property held in trust for individual Indians and revenue maintenance for IIM accounts is managed by the Department of Interior.

"The Department recognizes, that as a result of past weaknesses in its accounting and information systems, IIM account holders have not always had sufficient information to be able to ascertain whether income from their trust assets was properly credited, maintained and distributed to and from their IIM accounts," DOI officials said in a statement about the purpose of the meetings.

Interior officials also said they will continue to gather information for IIM beneficiaries and the public to comply with the Congressional directive to determine the "most reasonable methods for providing information to evaluate accounts and to determine whether there are discrepancies due to past management practices."