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The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians‘ (SSM) desires to build a new casino near Detroit seem unlikely to reach fruition, as the United States Supreme Court has declined to hear the tribe’s case.
Gambling activities under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act can only take place on land that has been taken into trust on the tribe’s behalf by the Department of the Interior (DOI). The SSM tribe sued the DOI to try to overturn the decision, but met with unfavorable results in lower courts. It filed its appeal with the Supreme Court in December in a last-ditch attempt to overturn that verdict.
The tribe claims a new casino is necessary to ensure its financial well-being. However, complicating its attempt was the fact that its existing lands are in the Upper Peninsula, while the newly-acquired lands were in an entirely different part of the state. The DOI is required to take into trust lands for the purpose of “enhancing” a tribe’s existing territory, but the Department and tribe disagreed on what that term means.
SSM operates five Kewadin Casinos on the Upper Peninsula. Barring some new tack, its intentions to expand into the Lower Peninsula are now at an end.
Background of SSM’s quest for new casino
The Supreme Court did not offer any comments on the SSM’s case. It simply added the listing of the case, along with dozens of others, in the denied section of a court order. The Court receives about 7,000 to 8,000 petitions annually but hears only about 1% of those, so the bar is quite high to receive a Supreme Court hearing.
The tribe had bought the Sibley Parcel, a piece of land in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan near Detroit back in 2012. The casino would benefit education, health, culture and charitable pursuits for the tribe, which are the requirements under the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (or “Michigan Act” for short).
However, the DOI blocked the request, arguing that the land didn’t constitute an “enhancement” of the tribe’s existing territory. It also disputed whether the original casino proposal would contribute enough of its revenue to the tribe as a whole to satisfy the conditions of the Michigan Act, writing:
“Although the Tribe now represents that ‘all net gaming revenues will [] be dedicated to advancing tribal welfare,’ […] its initial Tribal Resolution allocated only five percent to the welfare of certain Tribe members.
“Thus, even if we assume that the casino will be built and will be profitable, the record supports only a small allotment of the hypothetical profits to promote ‘social welfare.’
“And that falls far short of demonstrating an “educational, social welfare, health, cultural, or charitable purpose[]” for the funds expended to purchase land.”
SSM brought the case to the Supreme Court, alleging that the DOI is ignoring certain members of the tribe. It also believed it had brought enough historical data, in which the Supreme Court favored tribes in the past.
Kewadin Casino have faced issues recently
In the process of wanting to expand, which fell short, SSM’s current properties have faced major adversity recently. The tribe’s five Kewadin Casinos were victims of a cyberattack in February.
It took more than two weeks for the facilities to re-open, which did so in phases. The severity of the security breach was unknown, and whether or not customer information was involved.
