BIA threatens to cancel lease for Fond du Lac Band casino

Wednesday, March 28, 2012  

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is threatening to cancel a lease affecting the off-reservation casino owned by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Minnesota.

The lease is part of an arrangement in which the tribe pays 19 percent of gross revenues at the Fond-du-Luth Casino to the city of Duluth. The National Indian Gaming Commission determined that the agreement violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Now the BIA says the lease bars the use of the casino for "any unlawful conduct of purpose." Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk gave the tribe and the city 10 days to "show cause" why the arrangement shouldn't be canceled.

"This is yet another signal from a federal agency that the agreements that created Fond–du–Luth are in violation of federal law and that the Band needs to be the sole beneficiary of its own business," Chairwoman Karen Diver told Northland's NewsCenter in response.

The tribe has stopped paying 19 percent of gross revenues to the city.

Get the Story:
Fond-du-Luth Casino Comm Faces 10 Day Deadline to Save Lease Agreement. (Northland's NewsCenter 3/27)

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Off-reservation casino offers gains to Fond du Lac economy (2/25)