The U.S. Department of the Interior recently informed the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians that their off-reservation land-trust applications for property in Lansing and near Sibley in Wayne County have been denied. Interior Department Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason said the tribe “has submitted no new evidence to demonstrate that acquisition of the parcels would effect a consolidation or enhancement of tribal lands as necessary to trigger the mandatory land-into-trust provision.”
The July 24 letter signed by Cason cited the long distances between the tribe’s headquarters in the Upper Peninsula and the two sites in the Lower Peninsula. “Here, the distances are even greater—the tribe’s headquarters is approximately 260 miles (287 miles by road) from the Lansing parcels, and approximately 305 miles (356 miles by road) from the Sibley parcel,” Cason wrote.
The 71-acre Wayne County site is located southwest of the Detroit Metro Airport.
The tribe had worked for five years on the proposal to use the 2.7 acres in Lansing, located next to the downtown Lansing Center, to develop a $245 million casino. Tribal officials and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero proposed the project in January 2012. Kewadin Lansing Casino would have offered 3,000 slot machines and 48 table games plus several dining options.
Bernero said the Interior Department’s decision is flawed. In a statement, he said, “The Interior Department’s decision to deny the Sault Tribe’s trust application is very disappointing, but we stand strong with our tribal partners and will continue the fight to bring a casino to downtown Lansing. It is clear that the tribe and the city would derive tremendous benefits from opening a casino in Lansing. The revenues generated by such a facility would provide critical resources and services for the tribe and its members, as well as fully funding the Lansing Promise scholarship program that would provide four years of free college tuition to Lansing’s children. We knew from the beginning this process would be long and arduous and we look forward to the next steps toward bringing the benefits of a casino to the tribe and the city.”
Tribal spokesman Aaron Payment said, “We are deeply disappointed in the U.S. DOI’s decision to deny our mandatory trust land petitions largely because it is based on a flawed legal analysis and because our Land Claims Settlement Act approved by the Congress of the United States in 1997 clearly requires that the applications be approved. Our tribe is within federal law and our legal rights to pursue these opportunities to create thousands of new jobs and generate millions of dollars in new revenues that will enhance our tribal land base and benefit our members, the people of Lansing, public school students in Lansing, the people of Huron Township and the entire state. The law is clear: The secretary is required to accept these parcels in trust.”
Payment added the tribe “will make every effort they possibly can to change federal officials’ minds and make them give the nod to the Kewadin Lansing Casino.”
Payment noted at least three prior government actions “cleared the way for the tribe to file the applications.” These include a 2013 U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a 2014 decision from Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette to withdraw a lawsuit from the U.S. Supreme Court that the tribe says would have “effectively blocked the filing of the applications.”
The Sault Tribe argued the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act requires the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs to place the sites in Lansing and Huron Township sites in trust, no questions asked. But Cason said any mandatory acquisition must be connected to the “enhancement” of the tribe’s self-sufficiency or to the “consolidation” of the tribe’s land base. Since both sites are located hundreds of miles from tribal headquarters, Cason rejected the land-trust applications. He also said the “tribe has not offered any evidence of its plans to use the gaming revenue to benefit its existing lands or its members.
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Chairperson Jamie Stuck also praised Cason’s decision.
“The Interior Department’s decision reaffirms what the drafters of the original legislation have been saying all along, that Congress never intended to allow any tribe to use the law to shop for reservations throughout the state or to acquire land for gaming purposes,” Stuck said. “We have expended resources to fight this effort because we believe in protecting the current system of tribal gaming and complying with the basic principle that tribes should stay within their historic aboriginal territories when acquiring lands into trust status. What the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe was trying to do would have set bad precedent for all tribes in Michigan.”
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi operates the FireKeepers Casino Hotel near Battle Creek, about 49 miles away from the Sault Tribe’s proposed Lansing site.
Chief Frank Cloutier of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe said the Interior Department made the correct determination.
“The Interior Department’s decision affirms our longstanding position that the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act does not provide the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe with authority to shop for lands anywhere in the state merely to build a casino,” he said.
The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe operates the Saganing Eagles Landing Casino in southern Arenac County and the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Isabella County.
Other tribes are seeking approval for off-reservation casinos. The 4,000-member Little River Band is trying to open an off-reservation casino in Muskegon at the old Great Lakes Downs horse track. Tribal Leader Larry Romanelli, who has been working on opening the proposed casino for nine years, said it would create 2,000 jobs. Jim Nye, who represents the Huron Band of Potawatomi, has been fighting the Muskegon casino plan. “The most direct impact would be a sharp reduction in city wagering tax, which account for $175.5 million annually. Detroit is emerging from municipal bankruptcy and unable to absorb an approximate 30 to 40 percent reduction in city wagering tax. At a minimum city services would be cut.”
Romanelli called Nye’s claims “fear tactics.” He said the Saginaw Chippewa tribe is fighting new casinos because more competition could hurt their bottom line. “We have never opposed another Indian casino. There’s a lot of other things we have to fight. Fighting against each other seems to waste a lot of time and money and why would you do that?” Romanelli said.
Tom Shields, who works with the Little River Band, added, “This just a continuation of the efforts of the Saginaw Chippewas to prevent any competition from any other casino since they signed their compact in 1993. They tried to use their political, financial and legal muscle to stop every other casino in the Lower Peninsula for the past 24 years. This is all about greed. If there is a story here, it should be about their bullying tactics. They will spare no expense to control the market, even if it means putting thousands of people out of work or preventing other tribes from becoming self-sufficient and providing jobs and economic opportunities for their members and the local communities they operate in.”
