By Linda Stephan
Leaders in Lansing have just made a big announcement, a partnership with an Upper Peninsula tribe that could bring a couple thousand permanent and temporary jobs to town.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians wants to build a 245 million dollar casino with three-thousand slots and nearly 50 gaming tables, right downtown.
Some say a court battle over such a venture is likely to take years.
WKAR's Kevin Lavery contributed to this report.
And such a battle could raise a question of interest to people all over the state, that is: whether the Sault Tribe has the legal right to buy up land and put up a casino wherever it wants.
That's what James Nye speculates the tribe is going for, building a casino so far from its traditional lands in the Upper Peninsula.
He's a spokesman on this issue for two opposition tribes, the Saginaw Chippewa, which has a competing casino in Mount Pleasant, and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi.
"We think that the Sault Tribe is using Lansing to get to Romulus," he said. "Romulus is an area that the Sault Tribe has coveted for years, trying to open an off-reservation casino down there."
The Sault tribe's legal argument over a Lansing Casino is not entirely clear yet, so Nye is speculating.
But he said the Sault Tribe likely has an argument similar to the one being waged in court by another U.P. Tribe.
This one involves a casino in northern Michigan, the small Vanderbilt Casino built by the Bay Mills Indian Community.
"Bay Mills made it pretty obvious at that time that Vanderbilt was a stepping stone for them to go down to Port Huron and Flint and open up casinos downstate in the bigger gaming markets."
But so far Bay Mills hasn't gotten very far with the courts.
In fact, a federal judge shuttered the Vanderbilt Casino last year, at least temporarily.
And the judge did so saying he didn't think Bay Mills has much of a case.
The opposition tribes are threatening legal battles that would potentially be expensive to the tribes, the state and the city of Lansing.
But Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is touting the plan, which the tribe says would create 700 construction jobs and 15-hundred permanent, union casino jobs in the city.
"I'm saying 12-to-24 months optimistically. I hope for the best. You know, the sooner the better."
But legal expert Matthew Fletcher said this announcement feels like a publicity stunt.
He's a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and he runs the Indigenous Law Center at Michigan State University.
"It's going to take years and years," he said. "The best-case scenario would be at least 10 years before you'd have a casino."
He said off-reservation proposals like this one are very political, and likely to see fierce opposition, not just from competing downstate tribes, but also from casinos in Detroit.
And there are federal government hurdles to clear as well.
But Roger Martin, a spokesman for the Sault Tribe, said not to worry.
"We are very confident in our legal right to this process. The federal Land Claims Settlement Act gives us the absolute authority to follow this process, which we intend to do," he said. "We will be filing an application by this summer. We hope for an expeditious approval from the federal government.
"After that comes more than 2,000 great jobs for Lansing, hope and opportunity for Lansing public school students and more revenues, hopefully, for the Sault Tribe and their member programs."
Copyright 2010, MPRN
Leaders in Lansing have just made a big announcement, a partnership with an Upper Peninsula tribe that could bring a couple thousand permanent and temporary jobs to town.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians wants to build a 245 million dollar casino with three-thousand slots and nearly 50 gaming tables, right downtown.
Some say a court battle over such a venture is likely to take years.
WKAR's Kevin Lavery contributed to this report.
And such a battle could raise a question of interest to people all over the state, that is: whether the Sault Tribe has the legal right to buy up land and put up a casino wherever it wants.
That's what James Nye speculates the tribe is going for, building a casino so far from its traditional lands in the Upper Peninsula.
He's a spokesman on this issue for two opposition tribes, the Saginaw Chippewa, which has a competing casino in Mount Pleasant, and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi.
"We think that the Sault Tribe is using Lansing to get to Romulus," he said. "Romulus is an area that the Sault Tribe has coveted for years, trying to open an off-reservation casino down there."
The Sault tribe's legal argument over a Lansing Casino is not entirely clear yet, so Nye is speculating.
But he said the Sault Tribe likely has an argument similar to the one being waged in court by another U.P. Tribe.
This one involves a casino in northern Michigan, the small Vanderbilt Casino built by the Bay Mills Indian Community.
"Bay Mills made it pretty obvious at that time that Vanderbilt was a stepping stone for them to go down to Port Huron and Flint and open up casinos downstate in the bigger gaming markets."
But so far Bay Mills hasn't gotten very far with the courts.
In fact, a federal judge shuttered the Vanderbilt Casino last year, at least temporarily.
And the judge did so saying he didn't think Bay Mills has much of a case.
The opposition tribes are threatening legal battles that would potentially be expensive to the tribes, the state and the city of Lansing.
But Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero is touting the plan, which the tribe says would create 700 construction jobs and 15-hundred permanent, union casino jobs in the city.
"I'm saying 12-to-24 months optimistically. I hope for the best. You know, the sooner the better."
But legal expert Matthew Fletcher said this announcement feels like a publicity stunt.
He's a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and he runs the Indigenous Law Center at Michigan State University.
"It's going to take years and years," he said. "The best-case scenario would be at least 10 years before you'd have a casino."
He said off-reservation proposals like this one are very political, and likely to see fierce opposition, not just from competing downstate tribes, but also from casinos in Detroit.
And there are federal government hurdles to clear as well.
But Roger Martin, a spokesman for the Sault Tribe, said not to worry.
"We are very confident in our legal right to this process. The federal Land Claims Settlement Act gives us the absolute authority to follow this process, which we intend to do," he said. "We will be filing an application by this summer. We hope for an expeditious approval from the federal government.
"After that comes more than 2,000 great jobs for Lansing, hope and opportunity for Lansing public school students and more revenues, hopefully, for the Sault Tribe and their member programs."
Copyright 2010, MPRN