The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians recently issued a statement confirming it “remains fully committed” to pursuing off-reservation casinos in Lansing and Sibley, Michigan.
Last July, the Department of the Interior rejected the tribe’s land-trust applications. Agency officials said with Lansing about 260 miles away and Sibley about 305 miles away, the sites are located too far from the tribe’s headquarters. The downtown Lansing casino project was proposed in 2012.
The tribe’s board of directors voted to initiate litigation, but have not as yet filed a lawsuit. Tribal leaders stated, “The Sault Tribe remains fully committed to pursuing the Lansing casino project and we are confident that our legal right to do so will be upheld in the end. We are continuing to work with our legal and development teams to determine the best path forward and to assure that we have the resources to carry the project to a successful conclusion–for the tribe, the city of Lansing and the Lansing Promise Program.”
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor noted the city has not heard anything further since the federal government rejected the application. Schor said he’ll reevaluate the project once the property contract expires January 1, 2019.
After rejecting the Sault tribe’s applications, the Trump administration proposed regulations making it more difficult for tribes to acquire land away from their existing reservations. Nearly every tribe throughout the U.S. has expressed opposition to the changes. The final meeting for the Fee-to-Trust Regulations (25 CFR 151) will be held Thursday, April 12 in Connecticut. Written comments will be accepted through June 30.
