Paul Berkowitz: Case of the Indian Trader

Paul Berkowitz led PEER to do an autopsy of an official screw-up that was compounded by a cover-up.

In this case, one of last authentic Indian traders was railroaded by a corrupt National Park Service (NPS) investigation. Then, the Interior Inspector General (IG) covered up its own investigation of the mess at the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site in Ganado, Arizona. The IG investigation found major lapses of oversight and professionalism in the law enforcement program that have yet to be addressed.

Paul was the NPS investigator who blew the whistle on the Hubbell investigation and referred it to the IG. By the time he contacted PEER, he had retired and was writing a book detailing the investigation and the politics surrounding the case. He asked PEER to unearth the buried IG investigation. It took us nearly two years of litigation to produce the documents. As a result, the IG investigation is available only on our website.

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News Releases

PARK SERVICE INDIAN TRADING POST FIASCO FINALLY UNEARTHED