The shuttered Bay Mills Indian Community casino in Vanderbilt, Michigan. Photo © Bay Mills News
Homer Mandoka, the chairman of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Indians, and Dennis Kequom, the chief of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, discuss Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community, an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case:
Indian Country is all too familiar with the perils of taking cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Even under the best legal circumstances, the high court has repeatedly handed down staggering losses that impact the most sacred issues to Indian Country. That is why we are so concerned about a recent case the Supreme Court has decided to review that could severely limit tribal sovereignty for all of Indian Country. The case is Michigan vs. Bay Mills Indian Community which originated in late 2010 when the Bay Mills Tribe opened an off-reservation casino in Vanderbilt, Michigan, about 125 miles south of its reservation without proper approvals from federal and state governments. The Bay Mills Tribe, and its sister tribe Sault Ste. Marie, have argued in federal court that the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act of 1997 allows them to buy land anywhere in the United States to build a casino, so long as the land was purchased with land claim settlement trust funds. The two tribes assert they are not restricted by geography or quantity of casinos. Both tribes have pursued federal litigation despite the fact that both the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Department of the Interior issued separate legal opinions concluding that Bay Mills claims are completely without merit.Get the Story:
Homer A. Mandoka and Dennis V. Kequom: Op/Ed on Bay Mills Case by Nottawaseppi Huron Potawatomi & Saginaw Chippewa Chairmen (Turtle Talk 9/19) Relevant Documents:
Supreme Court Order List | Supreme Court Docket Sheet No. 12-515 6th Circuit Decision:
Michigan v. Bay Mills Indian Community (August 15, 2012) Related Stories:
Supreme Court to hear Bay Mills gaming case on December 2 (9/18)
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