From Indianz:
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is facing pressure to make sure its commercial casino in Detroit complies with state law.
The tribe has fallen behind on construction of a permanent Greektown Casino. Revenues have dropped and the facility’s debt-to-earnings ratio isn’t meeting state requirements. In hopes of resolving the [...]
Belanger v. Parish Complaint
Exhibit Property Location Drawing
From the AP:
DETROIT (AP) — If smoking is banned in Detroit bars, restaurants and workplaces, Betty Gilbert says it will hurt the city’s casinos.
Gilbert, who was smoking a cigarette Friday with members of her bowling team on a sidewalk near Greektown Casino downtown, should know. The 69-year-old from Cape May County, N.J. — who said [...]
From ICT:
The federal government’s recent actions involving its authority to make decisions on acquiring land in trust for tribal gaming purposes may inadvertently threaten the authority and duty of the secretary of the Interior Department to take land into trust for Indian tribes.
On April 29, the D.C. Circuit decided an innocuous case involving the secretary [...]
From Indianz:
An attorney for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians says a lawsuit challenging the Michigan tribe’s land-into-trust lawsuit is “fruitless.”
The tribe wants about 22 acres placed in trust. A group of property owners, however, claims the land belongs to them. Tribal attorney William Rastetter said the plaintiffs [...]
From the GR Press:
LANSING — Legislative opponents of a Wayland Township casino may be ready to fold their cards after last week’s federal appeals court ruling in favor of the Gun Lake tribe.
Republicans who control the state Senate will meet this week to discuss whether to continue their block on a gaming compact between the [...]
From the Detroit News (H/T Indianz):
Owners of the Greektown Casino may sidestep a potential state-ordered sale after a group of suburban businessmen announced Tuesday it will invest $100 million in the struggling downtown Detroit gambling operation.
The casino’s owners, Greektown Holdings LLC, already had missed an April deadline from the state to bring its financial performance [...]
I’ve posted a short paper called “‘Now What the Hell You Gonna Do in Those Days?’ A Research Note on Practical Barriers to Indian Land Claims” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
There are extra-legal barriers that American Indian people faced when confronted with the illegal theft of their lands, or with any dispossession of their [...]
From ICT:
Nokomis Learning Center educates community
OKEMOS, Mich. - Nokomis Learning Center, an American Indian cultural learning center in Okemos, provides many educational programs, exhibitions and events throughout the year.
The center estimates about 30 to 40 guests attend the center each day, with the number skyrocketing during school tours and special events.
”It really varies,” said Maria [...]
From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
PESHAWBESTOWN — A group of local waterfront property owners are fighting a recent decision to place a former railroad corridor into federal trust status for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
A public notice last month in Leelanau County prompted six land owners along Suttons Bay to file a [...]
