The United States wants a federal court to dismiss a class-action lawsuit intended to force the distribution of settlement monies awarded to the Great Sioux Nation for the unlawful taking of the Black Hills.

A motion to dismiss the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court late Tuesday afternoon, according to U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley.

The class-action complaint was filed in April against U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Special Trustee Donna Erwin by 19 individuals and "John Does 1-through 50,000." All are members of Sioux Nation tribes.

The plaintiffs want settlement funds currently held in trust that were awarded to the Great Sioux Nation by the Indian Claims Commission for the federal government's unlawful taking of land that was promised to them by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.

Jackley said the government's motion outlines three legal reasons the court should dismiss the lawsuit.

"It's all premised upon the concept that the individual tribes have not reached an agreement for the distribution of those funds, nor has Congress outlined a proper distribution method," Jackley said.

First, Jackley said, the plaintiffs lack standing in the suit because the original judgment - the 1877 value of the land plus $17.5 million and 5 percent interest - was made to the Sioux Nation, not individuals.

The Supreme Court in 1980 upheld a lower court in awarding eight Sioux tribes $106 million. The Department of Interior now holds trust funds worth about $900 million from the unclaimed damage award.

In addition, the plaintiffs have not identified a proper waiver of the United States' sovereign immunity.

And finally, the government argues that the tribes are not parties to the lawsuit.

"The tribes obviously have an interest in this lawsuit and they cannot be made parties to this lawsuit because of their sovereign immunity," Jackley said.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit in June, but the legalities of the tribe's action has not been fully sorted out, Jackley said.

The remaining seven nations - Oglala, Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Standing Rock, Lower Brule, Fort Peck and Santee Sioux tribes - have not become involved in the suit.

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com.