Lawsuit filed by Sioux descendants for federal recognition, monetary damages over land dismissed

A lawsuit filed by Sioux descendants against the United States for federal recognition of their tribe and monetary damages over land that attorneys argued was fraudulently dispossessed has been dismissed, court documents said.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Carolyn Lerner said in the dismissal order that the complaint lacked "subject-matter jurisdiction," which is defined by Cornell Law School as "the power of a court to adjudicate a particular type of matter and provide the remedy demanded."

The lawsuit asked for monetary damages over 500 square miles of land in southeastern Minnesota formerly known as the Lake Pepin Reservation. The complaint said the U.S. has "failed and continues to fail to properly protect the beneficiary rights of the Sioux half-breed lineal descendants," which has resulted in them being deprived of their land.

The Minnesota Historical Society said the 1830 Treaty of Prairie du Chien set aside 320,000 acres of potentially valuable land west of Lake Pepin for the descendants.   

Attorney Erick Kaardal, who represented the group that filed the complaint, argued when it was filed last October that the land was seized by the federal government through deception, manipulation and fraud. 

According to the order filed in federal court on July 10, six of the claims in the lawsuit are barred by the statute of limitations "because they accured [sic] more than six years ago."

The order went on to say that a request by the Sioux descendants to "restore the legal status of the Lake Pepin Reservation and their federally-recognized tribal status" is impermissible. Plaintiffs requested the relief under an act that requires "actual, presently due money damages" from the U.S., according to court documents.

"When this Court lacks jurisdiction over a plaintiff's monetary claims, any related equitable claims should be dismissed," the order said.