Also read: things never to say, American Indians, identity, tribe, facts

Earlier this week, DiversityInc received complaints from some American Indian readers because of our video interview with Margot Copeland, executive vice president and director, Corporate Diversity and Philanthropy at KeyBank, No. 50 on The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® list. In the video, discussing the bank’s efforts at financial literacy for traditionally underrepresented communities, she stated: "We have initiatives around the Native American community. Many of the young people receive $50,000 when they turn 18 because of the treaty signed in the 1800s."

DiversityInc received seven comments from readers who said this had to be an error.  We have researched Copeland’s statement, and spoken with her, and are issuing a correction. And we apologize for not checking the facts before airing the video.

For the record, Copeland did not intend to mislead anyone or further any stereotypes.

"My humble apologies to all if I misspoke,” she said. “I attended a conference in San Diego in 2006, which offered an off-site visit to a nearby tribal community. One of the speakers, who was a tribal leader, did use the $50,000 figure during his presentation, but I certainly should have verified the same before repeating the comment. I should have not left the impression that this practice was broadly applied."

Copeland's colleague, Mike Lettig, who is of Navajo descent, is the national executive for KeyBank's Native American Financial Services. He provided further insight on the details of financial practices among some American Indian tribes:

"There are to my knowledge no payments directly to tribal members at the age of 18 due to specific treaty appropriations. There are, however, a number of tribes that have developed Minor's Trusts for their youth, funded primarily from gaming revenue, although there can be other sources. These funds are mandated tribe by tribe, and are a result of decisions that tribes make independently for the benefit of their youth. The specific 'vesting' and payments are different tribe to tribe as well, and there very well can be cash payments made at different age, educational achievement, retirement planning and home-ownership thresholds as an example," he said.

Lettig added: "Financial literacy is an important component of helping any individual make sound financial decisions, and of course plan for home ownership, educational aspirations, and yes, retirement. I would submit, and many tribal leaders across the country would agree, that this educational component must be part of the financial-planning efforts tribes undertake on behalf of their youth and elders. Without this emphasis, tribal members, like the general citizenry, could be at risk of fraud, risky investments or lack of thoughtful financial planning."

"We at Key are focused on this important outreach, and have partnered with Junior Achievement in Washington State to focus on life-skill and financial-literacy development with tribal youth. Ms. Copeland has been a strong supporter of this focus and has helped us with the strategic investment efforts that Key has made on that front."

John Dossett, general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) expanded on Minor's Trusts through an e-mail to DiversityInc:

"There are treaties that included annuity payments, but those payments were time limited and expired 100 years ago or more. Some Indian people do receive payments from natural resources (for example, they own land with timber or oil), and some receive per-capita payments from their tribe with revenues from gaming. There are a few tribes with large per-capita payments, about 65 tribes have some form of per capita but often small. But the vast majority of tribes don't have any per caps at all."

He concluded, "When an Indian is a minor, the payments they receive are usually held in a trust account. When the minor turns 18, they receive the contents of that account. It is not unusual that an account would amount to 50K or more, because it has been building up for 18 years. Sometimes the trust accounts have restrictions, such as the money can only be used for education until the age of 21. In the big picture, it isn't all that different than the minor's trust accounts that many parents create for their children."