Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has until June 16 to decide whether to approve the Little River Band of Ottawa Indian’s plans to build a $180 million, 149,000-square-foot casino and 220-room hotel on 60 acres at the former Great Lakes Downs horse racetrack site in Fruitport Township near Muskegon.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of the Interior, which set that deadline, announced the Office of Federal Acknowledgement was considering the state-recognized Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians’ request to be federally recognized. The OFA said it would issue a proposed finding on the tribe’s petition by October 12.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Whitmer wrote, “My concurrence with the Little River Band’s two-part determination could frustrate the Grand River Bands, which may wish to open their own gaming facility on tribal lands not far from Fruitport Township. Yet DOI has not provided any information on how likely it is that the Grand River Bands will be acknowledged.” Whitmer said the October 12 deadline is “four months too late to enable an informed decision about whether to concur with the Little River Band’s two-part determination.” The two-part determination refers to approvals from both the state and the DOI for an off-reservation casino.
Whitmer further wrote, “this timeline is not of my choosing,” and urged Haaland to issue the proposed finding on the Grand River Bands’ petition by June 1, or extend the concurrence deadline in the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians “until after DOI has issued a preliminary decision on the Grand River Bands. This is a problem of DOI’s making, and it is a problem that DOI must solve,” Whitmer wrote.
The Little River Band is federally recognized, whereas the Grand River Band only is recognized by the state. They share common lineage, as the Little River Band descended from certain bands of the historic Grand River Bands.
The Little River Band, which owns the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, Firekeepers Casino Hotel and Gun Lake Casino, began the quest for a Muskegon casino more than a decade ago. A spokesman for Tribal Ogema Larry Romanelli noted the bipartisan support for the proposed casino and its potential to create 3,000 jobs “with the Governor’s sign-off.”
Grand River Band Chairman Ron Yob said the Little River Band is “attempting to pressure the Governor to give away some of our homelands in order to build an off-reservation casino on the treaty lands of our tribe. This is morally wrong and unjust, and we call on Governor Whitmer to reject this cynical effort. It’s cutting out the Grand River Bands in itself from even getting its roots in. We’ve always claimed that territory and Little River hasn’t. Now, they want to expand themselves to it. We have a lot of members in that area and it’s like shutting the door on them before they even had a chance to knock on it.”
Yob said the tribe has not determined whether it will pursue a casino if it gains federal recognition. He said, “That’s really going to be a membership thing and not my decision. I’ll do what their wishes are. My focus has been to stay on reaffirming the status of our tribe. Our tribal citizens desperately need the resources afforded to federally recognized tribes such as healthcare, housing and education. Casinos are just a short piece of that.”
Yob added, “However, I am deeply concerned and disappointed that another tribe is attempting to pressure the Governor to give away some of our homelands in order to build an off-reservation casino on the treaty lands of our tribe. This is morally wrong and unjust, and we call on Governor Whitmer to reject this cynical effort.”
