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Litigation | Openings and Closings
Supreme Court asked to hear Gun Lake Tribe casino site case


The Obama administration and the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a casino site case.

The tribe opened the Gun Lake Casino on February 11. That was just a couple of weeks after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a lawsuit that challenges the trust status of the gaming site.

The DC Circuit said David Patchak, a non-Indian, can sue the Bureau of Indian Affairs for approving the tribe's land-into-trust application. Patchak hopes to show that the tribe wasn't "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934 -- the tribe gained federal recognition in 2000.

The tribe filed its petition on August 25, according to Docket Sheet No. 11-246. The Department of Justice also filed the same day, according to Docket Sheet No. 11-247.

A response from Patchak is due September 26.

Get the Story:
Carcieri-based Challenge Reaches Supreme Court (Indian Country Today 8/31)