Sault Tribe drops legal fight over rival casino

John Flesher

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 2:49 a.m.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is dropping a lawsuit aimed at closing another tribe's casino, a spokesman said Thursday.

The Sault tribe has fought since last summer to prevent the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians from operating its Victories Casino near Petoskey.

But following a historic gathering of Michigan tribal leaders last week, the Sault tribe agreed to drop its appeal of a federal judge's ruling that the casino could reopen, spokesman John Hatch said.

"This is part of our effort to ... find common ground, to get past the lawyers, lobbyists and PR firms and work with each other," he said.

Gerald Chingwa, chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands, said the tribe's attorneys were awaiting confirmation that the suit had been dropped.

"Our attorneys are going to get with their guys and see if indeed that is what they've done," Chingwa said. "Of course, we would welcome the action."

The Little Traverse Bay Bands opened Victories Casino, which featured 550 slot machines, 12 bowling lanes and a restaurant, last July 16.

But the Sault tribe and the Bay Mills Indian Community in nearby Brimley sued in federal court.

They claimed the casino opened too soon because the U.S. Department of Interior had not taken the property into trust on behalf of the Little Traverse Bay Bands, although department officials had signaled their intention to do so.

U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell on Aug. 30 ordered Victories to close until the matter was settled. Three days later, the Interior Department published its decision to take the property into trust.

But the Sault tribe sued again, contending the department had violated its own rules in accepting the property and questioning whether the Little Traverse Bay Bands was legally qualified to operate a casino.

Bell sided with the Little Traverse Bay Bands on Dec. 14, enabling Victories to reopen. The Sault tribe took the case to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but now is dropping the matter, Hatch said.

Additionally, the Sault and Bay Mills tribes have decided to stop seeking penalties against the Little Traverse Bay Bands for operating the casino last summer, said Jim Bransky, attorney for the Little Traverse Bay Bands.

Hatch said the moves were in keeping with a new initiative by Michigan's 12 federally recognized Indian tribes. Last week, tribal leaders held their first formal gathering in 140 years, known as the Council of the Three Fires.

Participants said the leaders agreed to seek greater cooperation and avoid legal battles.

"We're much stronger together than we are apart," Hatch said.

George Bennett, chairman of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, said he believed the decisions of the Sault and Bay Mills tribes showed the Three Fires meeting had paid off.

"This is one of the things we had hoped for, that our people could come together and see how we solved things before we got involved with the courts," Bennett told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.