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Laura Yuen

Judge sanctions attorney for 'frivolous' claims in tribal land dispute

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A judge has sanctioned a prominent Minnesota attorney for "frivolous" claims in a long-running dispute over tribal land.

Attorney Erick Kaardal represents a group of Mdewakanton Sioux who sought to oust a Native American tribe and several dozen landowners from 12 square miles in southwestern Minnesota. Their ancestors sat out of the Dakota War in 1862, and Congress set aside land rewarding them for their loyalty. But that land was later turned over to tribal property.

Joe Halloran said his clients, the Lower Sioux Indian Community, are relieved that the case was dismissed, given all that it was seeking.

"It would eject the tribe and all of its members from the reservation homeland," Halloran said. "You can imagine it was pretty upsetting to the community and its members."

Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis wrote this week that the claims were so frivolous "that they had to have been brought in bad faith." He ordered Kaardal to pay for the defendants' attorney fees, which could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Kaardal didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.