Keweenaw Bay Indian Community asked to resubmit casino project

Friday, May 6, 2016

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community owns about 50 acres at the site of the former Marquette County Airport in Michigan. Image from Google Maps

>
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) won't reconsider an off-reservation casino for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community because he wants the tribe to go through the lengthy process all over again.

The tribe is pursuing the casino under the two-part determination provisions of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The law requires approval from both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the state governor.

After five years of consideration, the BIA signed off on the tribe's plan to relocate the Ojibwa Casino in Marquette to a site that's closer to the reservation in Decemvber 2011. But Snyder -- after receiving a six-month extension -- rejected the project in June 2013.

Still, the tribe hoped to revive the proposal by simply asking Snyder to concur with the BIA's earlier decision but he refused to take action.

"At this point we are not aware that the community has indeed reapplied to take the airport parcel into trust for purposes of gaming," a spokesperson for the governor told The Marquette Mining Gazette. "Once the community reapplies, the governor is more than willing to continue a dialogue about how agreement can be reached."

Since IGRA became law in 1988, only three tribes have opened casinos after completing both steps of the two-part determination process. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community won approval for the casino in Marquette in 2000.

Get the Story:
Gov: Awaiting formal casino reapplication (The Marquette Mining Gazette 5/6)

An Opinion:
Editorial: Snyder should revisit casino issue (The Escanaba Daily Press 5/5)