Washington - American Indian groups filed suit Monday accusing the federal government of mismanaging millions of dollars of Indian money.

The suit, filed on the eve of a congressional hearing on the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, asks a federal court in Washington to order a full accounting of the funds.

The class action suit was filed on behalf of 300,000 trust funds managed by the BIA. Each fund represents an individual Indian's share of money collected by the government, typically from the sale of land or the payment of royalties from minerals and other natural resources.

At a press conference to announce the filing of the suit, John Echohawk, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund, charged that the BIA had also "diverted" funds for unaccounted uses.

The Interior Department, of which the BIA is a part, did not immediately respond to the suit.

"The accounts could be worth as much as $450 million, but no complete accounting ever has been made"

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is scheduled to hear testimony today from tribal leaders about the lawsuit and the BIA management of their accounts.