Post by dakotaboi on Jan 30, 2006 10:29:19 GMT -5
The following article was ran in the Argus Leader newspaper, based in Sioux Falls, SD. Any thoughts??
1/22/06
Prior Lake, Minn. - It's a dispute with roots that go back to the bloodiest chapter in Minnesota history, the Sioux Uprising of 1862 that culminated in the largest mass execution in the United States.
Some descendants of Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux who sat out that conflict are pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. government. They claim that for almost 120 years they’ve been denied benefits of several large pieces of tribal land - and part of their tribal identity.
But the quest is pitting them against other Indians - some fellow descendants, and some that plaintiffs claim aren’t descendants - who for years have profited from lucrative casinos on the disputed tribal lands.
The lawsuit has momentum after several favorable rulings by a federal judge, and the stakes are high.
One of the casinos, Mystic Lake, is among the most profitable in the country. Enrolled members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Community, which owns Mystic Lake, receive yearly payments near $1 million.
The U.S. government also has money at risk. A federal judge has declared the U.S. to be the holder of a trust to benefit Loyal Mdewakanton, as the plaintiff is called. If a trial determines some descendants to have been excluded and should be made whole, the government could face liability in the hundreds of millions of dollars or more.
The tribal groups that operate the two most successful casinos also are fighting the effort, fearing a shakeup in their governance.
But the plaintiffs say it’s about righting wrongs dating to the first years of Minnesota’s statehood, when the federal government was seizing Indian land - and often giving nothing in return.
“It’s a matter of principle”, said Barbara Freezor Buttes, an anthropology professor who’s leading an effort to identify descendants of the Loyal Mdewakanton with an unfulfilled claim to the lands. More than 2,000 of those descendants are already represented in the lawsuit, and that number could double by the end of April, the deadline for compiling the list.
In legal briefs, the government raises questions about the legal standing to transfer control of the lands or the casinos. It maintains that the casinos were built on land that wasn’t initially identified in an 1886 census as due the Mdewakaton.
--By Patrick Condon, Associated Press
1/22/06
Prior Lake, Minn. - It's a dispute with roots that go back to the bloodiest chapter in Minnesota history, the Sioux Uprising of 1862 that culminated in the largest mass execution in the United States.
Some descendants of Minnesota Mdewakanton Sioux who sat out that conflict are pursuing a lawsuit against the U.S. government. They claim that for almost 120 years they’ve been denied benefits of several large pieces of tribal land - and part of their tribal identity.
But the quest is pitting them against other Indians - some fellow descendants, and some that plaintiffs claim aren’t descendants - who for years have profited from lucrative casinos on the disputed tribal lands.
The lawsuit has momentum after several favorable rulings by a federal judge, and the stakes are high.
One of the casinos, Mystic Lake, is among the most profitable in the country. Enrolled members of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Community, which owns Mystic Lake, receive yearly payments near $1 million.
The U.S. government also has money at risk. A federal judge has declared the U.S. to be the holder of a trust to benefit Loyal Mdewakanton, as the plaintiff is called. If a trial determines some descendants to have been excluded and should be made whole, the government could face liability in the hundreds of millions of dollars or more.
The tribal groups that operate the two most successful casinos also are fighting the effort, fearing a shakeup in their governance.
But the plaintiffs say it’s about righting wrongs dating to the first years of Minnesota’s statehood, when the federal government was seizing Indian land - and often giving nothing in return.
“It’s a matter of principle”, said Barbara Freezor Buttes, an anthropology professor who’s leading an effort to identify descendants of the Loyal Mdewakanton with an unfulfilled claim to the lands. More than 2,000 of those descendants are already represented in the lawsuit, and that number could double by the end of April, the deadline for compiling the list.
In legal briefs, the government raises questions about the legal standing to transfer control of the lands or the casinos. It maintains that the casinos were built on land that wasn’t initially identified in an 1886 census as due the Mdewakaton.
--By Patrick Condon, Associated Press