Gun Lake Tribe wants Supreme Court to hear gaming site dispute

Thursday, August 11, 2011  

The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that affects its casino.

The tribe opened the Gun Lake Casino on February 11. That was just a couple of weeks after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a lawsuit that challenges the trust status of the gaming site.

The DC Circuit said David Patchak, a non-Indian, can sue the Bureau of Indian Affairs for approving the tribe's land-into-trust application. Patchak hopes to show that the tribe wasn't "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934 -- the tribe gained federal recognition in 2000.

“We’re not worried about it,” John Shagonaby, the chief executive of the Gun Lake Tribal Gaming Authority, told The Grand Rapids Press.

The tribe and the Department of Justice are both planning to appeal. The deadline to file petitions is August 25, according to Docket No. 10A1239 and Docket No. 10A1224.

Get the Story:
Gun Lake Casino has come up a winner at 6-month mark, backers say (The Grand Rapids Press 8/11)

DC Circuit Decision:
Patchak v. Salazar (January 21, 2011)

Related Stories:
Turtle Talk: Commentary on DC Circuit decision on land-into-trust (1/31)
Gun Lake Tribe won't let litigation delay opening of gaming facility (1/27)
Land-into-trust issues cloud gaming plans for at least two tribes (1/25)