By Staff
NEW BUFFALO - A federal appeals court today issued a resounding victory for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, upholding their right to build a casino to use as an economic development tool for the Tribe. This ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paves the way for the Pokagon Band to move forward with the development of Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Township.
“We have been heard and understood,” said John Miller, Pokagon Band Tribal Chairman. “The Tribe is jubilant. This court decision is a monumental victory for the membership of the Pokagon Band, residents of Southwest Michigan, and all of Indian Country.
Friday's decision caps a five year effort by Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos (TOMAC), an organization suspected of having ties to competing gaming facilities in the region, to stop the Tribe's plans to construct its casino complex. While TOMAC could try to obtain review in the U.S. Supreme Court, the unanimous decision of the federal appeals court, variously describing TOMAC's arguments as “specious” and having “no merit,” offers TOMAC little hope.
The court's 25-page decision, eloquently describing the history of the Pokagon Band, rejected TOMAC's claims that the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, failed to comply with federal environmental law and had no authority to approve the Band's gaming project. The court systematically set aside each environmental argument, finding that the Secretary complied with the law by taking a “hard look” at the environmental effects of the project.
Of most significance to the Pokagon Band is the court's vindication of its status as a federally recognized Indian Tribe. “TOMAC attacked our history and our identity,” Chairman Miller said. “We knew they were wrong. And the Court has made our legal status as a federally recognized, sovereign Indian Tribe crystal clear.”
Under the 1988 federal law regulating Indian gaming, Congress established clear procedures for tribes “restored” to federal recognition after 1988 to proceed with casino gaming operations. TOMAC claimed that the Band was not a “restore” tribe as Congress intended and, therefore, that the Secretary could not approve the Band's intended gaming project.
The court said that TOMAC offered “no support” for this claim and failed “to account for the recognized history of the Pokagon Band.” It described the federal government's “termination” of the Tribe as a result of “faulty and inconsistent administrative decisions.” In 1994, Congress “remedied that improper termination and restored1 the Band to its rightful place,” the court said, describing the 1994 Pokagon Restoration Act.
Finally, the court “categorically rejected” TOMAC's assertion that Congress acted unconstitutionally by giving the Secretary of the Interior overly broad authority to take land into trust on the Band's behalf to restore its reservation.
Electronic versions of this release, the court ruling as well as the Pokagon gaming history timeline, Four Winds Casino drawings, Pokagon tribal history, and outline of the Four Winds Casino project are available at www.mrgmi.com.