Washington ? It will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and take sweeping changes to fix a system of American Indian royalties mismanaged by the government for more than 100 years, Interior Secretary Gale Norton told members of Congress on Wednesday.

Despite opposition from Indian leaders to changes Norton has proposed, and skepticism from some members of the House Resources Committee, Norton said she is optimistic she can work with tribes and Congress to manage the Indian money better.

Committee members, however, clearly were frustrated at how long the trust overhaul has taken.

Reports dating from 1928 identified problems in trust fund accounting. In 1994 Congress created the Office of Special Trustee to oversee repair of the system and has spent $614 million since then on changing it.

Special trustee Thomas Slonaker said Wednesday that major accounting and data problems still have not been solved.

“It’s very, very hard for me to be optimistic. I believe the Native Americans have put up with this charade long enough,” said Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif. He said if Norton can’t fix the system, Congress should do the job.

The Indian trust funds were created in 1887, when Congress assigned Indians small allotments of land. Interior was assigned to manage the grazing, timber and oil and gas rights, but much of the money was stolen or misappropriated.

In 1996, Elouise Cobell, a Montana banker and member of the Blackfeet Nation, and four others sued the government for squandering the money. In 1999, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Interior to overhaul the trust and piece together how much the Indians are owed.

The judge also is holding a hearing to decide whether Norton should be held in contempt for not fixing the system and misrepresenting reform efforts.

Under threat of contempt, Norton proposed sweeping changes last November, pushing for creation of a new bureau in the Interior Department to manage the trust fund over opposition from Indian leaders.

Norton is working with a group of tribal representatives and said she hopes an agreement can be reached.

She also acknowledged the difficulties in fixing the system and said the department’s computerized accounting system has failed to meet its objectives, she said. A congressional report said last year the $40 million-plus system may have to be scrapped.

Adding adequate computer security will cost up to $70 million over the next three years, Norton said. Security holes prompted Lamberth to pull the plug on the Interior Department’s Internet connections on Dec. 5, 2001, in order to protect the $500 million account from hackers.

Ninety percent of the department remains off-line, and most Indians who rely on royalty payments haven’t seen a single check since November.