David Patchak is attempting to keep his lawsuit against the Gun Lake Casino in Wayland Township, Michigan moving forward in federal court. Patchak, a non-Indian who lives three miles from the casino owned by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, recently filed new documents with the court. If Patchak wins in court, the casino could be forced to close. However, he has admitted he is seeking a monetary settlement from the tribe.
The timeline of the case is as follows:
• Patchak filed suit after the Bureau of Indian Affairs placed the site of the Gun Lake Casino in trust, before the casino was built in early 2011. He claimed the tribe cannot follow the land-into-trust process as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court precedent, that restricts the process to tribes that were “under federal jurisdiction” in 1934. The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band was federally recognized in 1999. Patchak’s claim has not been heard in this case.
• In another decision, in 2012 the Supreme Court in Salazar v. Patchak said his case could go forward even though the casino site already was placed in trust.
• Congress passed S1603, the Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act, which confirmed the casino site is in trust and called for Patchak’s lawsuit to be dismissed.
• In an October 31 motion, Patchak’s attorneys said, “The punitive nature of the bill, combined with the act’s undisputed specificity, renders the Gun Lake Act an unlawful bill of attainder and it should be held unconstitutional as applied to Mr. Patchak and on its face.”
• On December 4, the federal government and the tribe submitted responses in defense of the new law. Judge Richard J. Leon has not issued a decision, although he earlier criticized Patchak for his relentless pursuit of the case.
Meanwhile, the BIA has placed three more sites in trust for the tribe. One parcel is adjacent to the casino. Another 176-acre parcel known as Jijak Camp near Hopkins, long has been used for tribal events. The third is a 33-acre parcel that was the tribe’s original settlement, now used for housing, a church and other tribal activities.
The tribe recently released its latest six-month revenue-sharing payment to the state and local community, totaling $8,702,489. The payment included $7,030,280 to the state and $1,672,209 to the community. The tribe has paid more than $60 million in revenue sharing since it opened in early 2011. The payments are distributed semi-annually under terms of the tribe’s gaming compact and are based on slot machine revenues reported from April 1 to September 30.
D.K. Sprague, chairman of the Gun Lake Tribe, said, “Once again we hit an important milestone in surpassing $60 million in revenue sharing contributions to the state and local governments. We know these funds have improved the quality of life in our community and helped to create jobs statewide through our contributions to the Michigan Economic Development Corp.”
