Tribe’s suit a bargaining tool in negotiations on casinos

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Eastern Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma sued Monday to regain about 146 square miles of western Ohio the tribe says was illegally taken in 19th century treaties. The tribe's attorney said the aim was not to seize cities and dairy farms but to negotiate a deal to open casinos where the tribe has been invited.

The claims in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo, include the entire city of Wapakoneta, parts of Lima and several dairy farms near Bellefontaine. The tribe would seek title to the land and repayment of taxes and other revenue the state has collected on it since taking it over in 1831.

The lawsuit is an extreme step aimed at forcing the state to negotiate with the Shawnee over opening casinos in sites where local leaders want the tribe, said Mason Morisset, the tribe's attorney. The village of Botkins in western Ohio and Lorain and Lordstown in northeast Ohio have expressed interest.

Attorney General Jim Petro said he would vigorously fight the lawsuit and try to stop casino gambling from entering the state.

The lawsuit claims two reservations covering 145 square miles were improperly ceded through treaties that did not include all the signatures of Shawnee chiefs who had signed an earlier treaty creating the reservations. Another square mile was sold to two private landowners in violation of federal law.