Attorneys for American Indian farmers and ranchers in a discrimination case against the federal government are slated to meet in Fort Yates to gather more information and witnesses.

The lawsuit, filed in 1999, alleges the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated against Indians in the granting of loans beginning in 1981.

Joe Sellers, the Indians' lead attorney in Washington, D.C., said his firm is gathering up to 100 Indian ranchers and farmers to serve as witnesses for a trial. He said about 50 witnesses have been found so far, mostly in North Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma.

The meeting on Thursday morning at Prairie Knights Casino near Fort Yates is targeting Indian producers from South Dakota who believe they have been discriminated against by the USDA, Sellers said. The casino is near the North Dakota-South Dakota border.

"This is an information-gathering trip - we want to reach out to people in South Dakota about the case," Sellers said.

The meeting Thursday was widely advertised throughout the American Indian community in the Dakotas, Sellers said. He expects about 50 Indian ranchers and farmers from South Dakota to attend.

Attorneys Christine Webber and Anurag Varma, both of Washington, D.C, will attend the meeting. Varma was an attorney in a similar civil rights case brought by black farmers in 1997 and settled two years later.

The Indian lawsuit was granted class-action status in 2001. It alleges USDA denied or delayed loans, or did not approve enough money to keep farms afloat financially.

The case, Keepseagle vs. Johanns, formerly Veneman, refers to Fort Yates rancher George Keepseagle and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Ann Veneman was agriculture secretary when the lawsuit was filed.

Attorneys estimate the number of Indian plaintiffs could be in the tens of thousands. A settlement figure has not been calculated, but would likely be in the "hundreds of millions," Sellers said.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said at a hearing in September that he believes Indian farmers and ranchers are entitled to a trial.

Sellers said he and USDA lawyers have been meeting with a magistrate to resolve some of their differences and decide on a trial date, but no decision has been made.