Dakota descendants win another round in trust management suit

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A federal judge has again ruled that the federal government owes money to Dakota descendants whose ancestors were promised land in the late 1800s.

Judge Charles Lettow ruled that Congress created a trust for the "loyal Mdewakanton" through a series of appropriations acts in 1888, 1889 and 1890. He said the Wolfchild plaintiffs are entitled to money that was generated on their land.

However, consistent with a Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case, Lettow said Congress in 1980 effectively ended the trust. The land at issue is now part of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, the Prairie Island Indian Community and the Lower Sioux Indian Community, all in Minnesota.

Lettow said the plaintiffs are not entitled to money generated on the land after 1980. The exact amount of what they are owed will be determined by the court.

"That $60,000, identified in a report prepared in 1975, had grown to $131,483 by 1980, and, with additional interest since 1980, would be a few times greater than that larger amount by today, thirty years later," Lettow said in his December 21, 2010, decision.

Lettow will hold a hearing on Friday, January 21, to go over the next steps in the case. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they are considering their options, including a possible appeal on the post-1980 issue.

Get the Story:
Indian Tribe May Collect on 150-Year-Old Trust (Courthouse News Service 1/10)