# Erick Kaardal *Attorney; counsel in the 2025 Mdewakanton / Lake Pepin descendants' suit against the United States* Erick Kaardal is an attorney named in the project's records as counsel for descendants of the [[Mdewakanton]] community of the [[Lake Pepin]] tract.[^1][^2] On October 13, 2025, those descendants sued the United States in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.[^1][^2] The project's note on the suit says the claim rests on two sets of treaties.[^1] The first is the 1830 [[Treaty of Prairie du Chien]], which set aside the Lake Pepin "half-breed" tract of about 320,000 acres.[^1] The second is the 1851 Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota, which, according to the note, removed that tract's protections.[^1] The plaintiffs seek about $5 billion and federal recognition.[^1][^2] The filing date was [[Indigenous Peoples' Day]].[^1][^2] The record shows Kaardal only as counsel in this one suit. It does not establish his practice history, his other engagements, or any office he has held.[^1][^2] It also records no docket number, no assigned judge, and no procedural status after the filing.[^1][^2] ## Omissions in official accounts The University of Minnesota and the [[Minnesota Indian Affairs Council]] issued the *TRUTH Project Report* on April 11, 2023. The report is posted on the state agency's site.[^2] Its text includes the phrase "shell corporation through which to launder lands and resources."[^2] The project's merged master records that the Mdewakanton / Lake Pepin descendants do not appear in that report.[^2] The master describes them as lineal claimants who identify as Sioux, and it notes that the report was issued under "Dakota" vocabulary.[^2] On October 13, 2025, two and a half years after the report, the descendants filed their federal claim over the Lake Pepin tract.[^1][^2] The master also flags a second problem. The report's acreage and dollar totals do not match across the documents it checked, and the master does not rely on either set of figures.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Kaardal is named as "counsel" in the project's densified note on the suit and as "atty." in the merged master.[^1][^2] ### What - He is counsel in a suit filed by Mdewakanton / Lake Pepin descendants against the United States seeking federal recognition.[^1][^2] ### When - The suit was filed on October 13, 2025, Indigenous Peoples' Day.[^1][^2] ### Where - The suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.[^1][^2] ### Why - The claim rests on the 1830 Treaty of Prairie du Chien and the 1851 Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota.[^1] ### How much - The suit seeks about $5 billion.[^1][^2] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki project, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), note [46] — establishes the filing in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Oct. 13, 2025 (Indigenous Peoples' Day), the demand of about $5 billion and federal recognition, the 1830 and 1851 treaty grounding, the 320,000-acre tract, and counsel Erick Kaardal; marked primary-confirmed. Pack row, no URL. [^2]: Minnesota wiki project, *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted), note [11] — establishes the *TRUTH Project Report* (Apr. 11, 2023) and its quoted phrase, the descendants' absence from it, the figure inconsistency flag, and the suit (Oct. 13, 2025; about $5 billion; atty. Erick Kaardal). Pack row, no URL.