Indian Gaming > NIGC: 'No comment' on losing Soo Tribe casino case

August 30, 2007

NIGC: 'No comment' on losing Soo Tribe casino case

The National Indian Gaming Commission isn't talking after losing a case that allows the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe to open a $41 million casino in Michigan.

The NIGC stopped the tribe from opening the Kewadin Shores Casino a year ago. The agency said the site did not qualify for gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

But a federal judge on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction that prevents the NIGC or other federal agencies from interfering with the opening or operation of the facility. The judge adopted a magistrate's report that said the government couldn't explain why the casino site was not legal.

The land where the casino sits was taken in trust 2000 but is contiguous to land taken in trust in 1983. The injunction says the tribe is likely to succeed in proving that it meets an exception in IGRA that allows gaming on land contiguous to existing reservations.

Get the Story:
Kewadin casino allowed to open (The Detroit News 8/30)