Urging the United States Supreme Court to hear a case by a Minnesota band of Indians seeking recovery for breach of trust against the federal government, Professor Gregory Sisk filed an amicus curiae brief Jan. 31, represented by counsel Janet Evans and Michael Ciresi of the Minneapolis law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi.
In Wolfchild v. United States, a group of Indians called the Mdewakanton Band seeks recovery for land and revenues they say were wrongly diverted by the federal government. The band consists of the descendants of the “Loyal Mdewakanton,” who at great risk to themselves and rejection by their own tribe acted heroically during the Sioux uprising of 1862 to save the lives of white settlers and restore peace to Minnesota.
Sisk’s amicus brief argues that Congress, through a series of 19th Century statutes, intended to provide for the Loyal Mdewakanton and their families and that Congress has acted wrongly by diverting those lands and revenues to others. The brief says the Supreme Court should take the case to uphold that solemn commitment to the heirs of that loyal band, and to clarify that such a claim falls within the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims.
