gaming

Off-reservation Indian gaming is the most hotly-contested, politicized issue in American Indian affairs right now and maybe forever. Think of the interests arrayed against a Lansing casino, let alone one owned by an Indian tribe. The Detroit casinos will be opposed because it will cut into their bottom lines, and the entire City of Detroit, the Michigan Congressional delegation, the unions, everyone will throw their weight against this casino proposal.

More, up north just a few miles is another big problem for the mayor — the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. They’ll throw their weight against a Lansing casino, too, since a Lansing casino might destroy that tribe’s gaming market. They’ll have nothing to lose by fighting this every step of the way because they will be so severely injured by a Lansing casino that no lobbyist, no lawsuit, nothing will be too expensive to throw at it.

Finally, the law makes this difficult. Been saying this for months now. I suppose Sault Tribe believes, as I imagine the Bay Mills Indian Community does, that Bay Mills will eventually win on its legal theories relating to the Vanderbilt casino. it seems doubtful at best, given that Interior and the NIGC disagree. If that happens, then there will be 10-15 more Indian casinos in and around Lansing, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and so on in the next five years, especially if Bay Mills doesn’t comply with its revenue sharing obligations to the other tribes contained in the 1993 compacts (that’s right, even if they win, they only get one-seventh of the profit — go read section 9 of the 1993 compacts). Really hard to believe that will happen. Let’s set that aside for a minute.

The Sault Tribe will have to purchase land in Lansing, maybe the Lansing convention center or something. Then they’ll have to ask the Secretary of Interior to take the land into trust. And every trust acquisition application for gaming purposes requires an Environmental Impact Statement, and those take a few years to conclude. Once that’s done, the tribe will have to persuade Interior to take this land into trust. And that’s not so easy. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act requires the governor to concur on any off-reservation gaming proposals. The Secretary has to then agree to take the land into trust, and even then someone in the Michigan Congressional could push through a rider preventing that action. It’s happened before.

And then, assuming the Secretary does take the land into trust, the lawsuits start. Trust acquisitions are governed by the Administrative Procedures Act. Anyone can sue, pretty much. The experiences of the three Potawatomi tribes in Michigan are instructive. The suits take years and years to conclude.

Of course, I’m no political scientist. Politics is money (see Citizens United) and anything can happen, including a backlash against Indian gaming that persuades Congress to ban off-reservation gaming. But the mayor’s three years is a dream, and kind of sick thing to promise to people in Lansing who might believe the mayor and see this as a real possibility for improving their lives.

Lansing Mayor Announces Sault Tribe Casino

January 23, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

Minnesota Ojibwe Tribal Leaders Op/Ed: “Minnesota Tribes are More than Gambling”

January 23, 2012January 23, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the op/Ed, authored by

Here’s an excerpt:

Some Minnesotans refer to tribes not by their official names but by their casinos’ names, such as “Grand Casino” for the Mille Lacs Band or “Black Bear” for Fond du Lac.

Perhaps that is why many people seem to mistakenly believe that the main purpose of tribes is to operate casinos. This could not be further from reality.

Tribes are governments, with all the same duties and responsibilities that state governments have.

Minnesota is home to 11 American Indian tribal governments, whose main job is to serve the needs of our members through health care, education and other services.

Our people count on us to help them when they are sick, to prepare their children for college and careers, to make quality housing available, to care for the elderly, and to be responsible stewards of the lakes and lands on our reservations.

They want their voices heard in government, and they want to see solutions to community problems. In short, they expect their governments to meet their needs and make wise use of their resources.