The Bay Mills Indian Community and the state of Michigan have agreed to dismiss lawsuits against each other and resolve a 10-year-old court battle over tribal gaming on land in Vanderbilt. The tribe and the state had sued each other to determine if the tribe could offer gaming on the land. Under the agreement, the tribe said it would not operate a gaming facility on the land for at least five years. The agreement, however, does not include any other terms regarding whether the land is eligible for gaming.
The Bay Mills tribe said continuing the litigation would not be an effective use of its resources as it’s about to become one of the first U.S. tribes to offer statewide internet gaming. “The dismissal also preserves the tribe’s ability to restore and enhance our tribal homelands to better serve its people,” tribal officials said in a statement.
The Bay Mills tribe acquired the Vanderbilt parcel under the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act, using interest earnings from a settlement with the federal government over allegations it was not fairly compensated for land it ceded in treaties from the 1800s. The tribe opened a casino in Vanderbilt on November 3, 2010.
The following year, a federal judge ruled the casino opened without state approval and forced it to close. In 2012 the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed that decision. The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which in 2014 upheld the Circuit Court ruling in favor of the tribe, which hasn’t reopened the casino. The case was sent back to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, where the dispute between the tribe and the state remained until the recent settlement.
The Bay Mills tribe operates two casinos on its reservation in Brimley.
