The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians recently approved a resolution authorizing the tribal chairman and attorney to “take whatever action is necessary and appropriate to challenge and overturn the denial” by the U.S. Department of Interior of the tribe’s request to take into trust land in downtown Lansing, Michigan. In July the Interior Department denied the tribe’s land-trust application, a major step toward opening a casino, stating the tribe failed to prove its casino plans would provide “enhancement of tribal lands,” considering the tribe’s headquarters is located 300 miles away. The Sault tribe has owned the land since 2012.
Tribal General Counsel John Wernet said, “We are continuing to work with our legal counsel to make sure we have pursued every available option, but it seems likely that a lawsuit will be necessary to vindicate the tribe’s clear statutory right to have these lands placed in mandatory trust status. This matter is of vital importance to the tribe and we intend to move expeditiously. We continue to be very confident that we will prevail.”
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi and the Saginaw Chippewa, which own Michigan casinos, oppose the Sault tribe’s plans. Spokesman James Nye stated, “We will monitor this situation on a daily basis and prepare for participation in the litigation. We would seek to vigorously defend Interior’s logical decision to deny the Sault tribe the ability to open numerous casinos hundreds of miles from its reservation.”
The Sault tribe currently owns five casinos, all located in the Upper Peninsula.
