The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a trust management case involving Dakota descendants who said they were promised land in the late 1800s.

The plaintiffs in the Wolfchild case said they are owed money for the federal government's failure to hold land in trust for them. The land at issue is now part of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Prairie Island Indian Community and Lower Sioux Indian Community, all in Minnesota.

A federal judge sided with the plaintiffs but the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals said Congress never created a trust in the first place. The plaintiffs appealed by the high court, without comment, turned down the case.

The case is Wolfchild v. US, No. 09-579.

Supreme Court Order List:
ORDERS IN PENDING CASES (April 19, 2010)

Federal Circuit Decision:
Wolfchild v US (March 10, 2009)

Court of Federal Claims Decision:
Wolfchild v. US (December 16, 2005)

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