In 2015, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians filed a lawsuit in which it claimed an 1855 treaty created a reservation of 337 square miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Emmet and Charlevoix counties. Michigan said the treaty only offered the tribe pieces of the land, for members to have homes.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case on Monday, ending a fight for tribal sovereign rights there.
Had the highest court reversed the lower court’s ruling, it would have meant more tribal control Up North. A similar case in Oklahoma ceded about half of the state’s land to the tribe’s authority.
Tribal Chairperson Regina Gasco-Bentley said in a statement the tribe is “sad and disappointed” the Supreme Court denied review of their case.
“This region where we have lived since time immemorial remains our home, and we will continue to work in cooperation with the Federal, State and local governments as honorable stewards of this sacred land and water,” she said.
The Emmet County Lakeshore Association and townships in the disputed area were opposed to the tribes’ position.
Attorney Lance Boldrey, who represented some residents and business owners in the suit, said his clients feared what a change of authority could have meant for law enforcement and zoning rules in their communities.
"Businesses that have air and water permits and can get those today under known standards and known processes, they would be put under a different framework,” he said.
Even though the case is now closed, Boldrey said the case caused some animosity between the tribe and local communities.
“I think there are still some real relationship issues that are going to have to be repaired going forward,” he said.
