"The Obama administration announced a $760 million settlement  Tuesday to resolve charges by thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs.

The farmers have fought for 11 years and through three administrations to resolve the case.

'The settlement announced today will allow USDA and the Native American farmers involved in the lawsuit to move forward and focus on the future,' Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement.

The roughly 50-page agreement resolves a class-action lawsuit brought in 1999 by nearly 900 people, covering Department of Agriculture actions dating to 1981."

Spencer S. Hsu and Krissah Thompson report for the Washington Post October 19, 2010. [2]