Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (SSM) is asking the United States Supreme Court to hear its case after the Department of the Interior (DOI) blocked its attempt to secure land for a casino to be built near Detroit. It filed for an appeal at the country’s highest court earlier this week.
SSM currently operate Kewadin Casinos, which has five locations throughout the Upper Peninsula. In 2012, the tribe bought the Sibley Parcel, a piece of land in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan near Detroit.
SSM purchased the land using interest from its Self-Sufficiency Fund with the intent of having the federal DOI place the lands into trust.
Securing “tribal land” status for the parcel was necessary for it to be legal to build a casino there. However, the DOI rejected the request, arguing that the land didn’t constitute an “enhancement” of the tribe’s existing territory and that casino construction wasn’t a valid use of Self-Sufficiency Fund money.
Why the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe wants another casino
The SSM is a federally recognized tribe in the United States, but it wants to keep developing, which is the reason for a new casino.
Interest from the Self-Sufficiency Fund comes with certain strings attached. Under the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (or “Michigan Act” for short), the tribe can only spend such funds for the benefit of its members, including:
- Education
- Health
- Culture
- Charitable pursuits
The tribe could have spent money from the principal instead, for which it enjoys greater discretion. However, the DOI’s obligation to take land into trust only applies to land purchased with fund interest. It was, therefore, legally important to the tribe to fund the purchase using the interest.
SSM believes that the new casino would meet the above criteria because a portion of its revenue would be committed to such social welfare. According to the tribe’s petition, the casino would benefit SSM in the following ways:
“Today, the Tribe ‘struggl[es] to provide basic services for its members,’ including ‘vital services for cultural activities, elder meal programs, education programs, day care, and food assistance for low income families.’ For example, the Tribe faces a ‘housing shortage’ of more than 2,200 homes.
“Although the Tribe’s reservation lands are scattered across the Upper Peninsula, more than one third of the Tribe’s members live downstate in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, including near Detroit.
“Those thousands of members alone exceed the population of any other Michigan tribe. Yet the Tribe has no meaningful land base in the Lower Peninsula from which to provide support to its members there, who currently ‘have no tribal employment opportunities.'”
Why new SSM casino continues to get shut down
The DOI refused to take SSM’s property under trust in 2017, saying the proposed use did not meet the requirements of the Michigan Act. On the surface, casino construction doesn’t appear to fall under the category of education, health, culture, or charitable pursuits.
Moreover, the DOI says the acquisition of lands in the Lower Peninsula doesn’t meet the plain English definition of “enhancement” of the tribe’s existing lands, located in the Upper Peninsula.
Earlier this year a three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the DOI, overturning a lower court which had ruled in favor of the tribe.
The judgment highlights the fact that in its original plans, the tribe had allocated only a small portion of the casino’s future revenue to members’ welfare:
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.
Several other parties have involved themselves in the case to protect their own interests. One of these is the Saginaw Tribe of Chippewa Indians, whose own lands lie close to the parcel SSM is seeking to have taken into trust.
Since the new land is near the Detroit area, the commercial properties there—MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Hollywood Casino at Greektown—are also against SSM’s expansion into the Lower Peninsula. These companies involved themselves with the case at the District Court stage, siding with the DOI as defendant intervenors.
What’s next for Sault Ste. Marie Tribe legal battle
SSM brought the case to the Supreme Court because it believes the DOI and even the District Court is undermining the tribe’s social welfare. They allege the DOI is ignoring a certain group of SSM. The petition reads:
“By seizing the Tribe’s power to determine compliance with MILCSA and limiting land acquisitions under that settlement act to the Upper Peninsula, Interior’s interpretation guarantees that the Tribe has no ability to take land into trust in areas that would allow it to achieve meaningful economic development or meet the needs of more than 14,000 members living in downstate Michigan.”
It also pointed out other Supreme Court cases that have been favorable for tribes. To make an appeal at the United States Supreme Court, there needs to be some historical data, which SSM believes it has.
It referenced cases such as Mountain States Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Pueblo of Santa Ana and Kerr-McGee Corp. v. Navajo Tribe of Indians. The court granted appeals in both cases.
One thing working in SSM’s favor is that the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Doctrine in August. As a result, courts can now overrule government agencies’ interpretation of laws and regulations in cases where multiple interpretations are reasonable. That means SSM won’t need to convince SCOTUS justices that the DOI’s interpretation is unreasonable, only that its own version is preferable.
There is no timetable on SSM’s Supreme Court appeal. The legal battle has gone on for several years. It could be another couple before the dust finally settles.
