In Michigan, the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, or Gun Lake Tribe, recently announced a 25-year plan to develop hundreds of acres near its casino into a corridor with housing, retail, manufacturing and a new 15-story hotel. Tribal leaders and tribal business experts say the global pandemic has been the latest and clearest sign that tribal governments with casinos can't depend solely on slot machines and poker rooms to support future generations. The 1,000-member tribe has since expanded its efforts to get into the federal government contracting business, making it one of several tribal nations to look beyond the casino business more seriously after the coronavirus crisis. “The fact that the casino revenues went from millions to zero overnight just fully reiterated the need for diverse revenue streams,” said Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler. (AP) - When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut for three months in 2020, its owners, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, had to reckon with decades of relying heavily on gambling as the tribe's main source of revenue. That lawsuit was thrown out earlier this year.MASHANTUCKET, Conn. MGM sued the State of Connecticut last year, saying it was unfair to allow only the tribes to build new casinos on non-tribal land. A spokesman for the tribes said the plan is a ploy to try and thwart the tribal casino in East Windsor. MGM says it would bring thousands of jobs to Connecticut’s largest city and millions of dollars for the state in licensing fees this fiscal year. Meanwhile, MGM International is seeking state approval for a planned $600 million casino in Bridgeport. But in a letter sent to the BIA this week, they say they still want a ruling. Lawyers for the tribes say under federal law that amounts to a tacit approval. The proposal went to the BIA earlier this year, but the agency hasn’t made a ruling. The tribes say this is not going to stop them from going ahead with their plans.Ĭonnecticut’s General Assembly gave the tribes permission to open the East Windsor casino to compete with a $950 million MGM casino in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts. The casino would be jointly owned by the state’s two federally recognized Native American tribes.

Bureau of Indian Affairs has missed a deadline to approve or reject plans for a tribal casino in East Windsor, Connecticut.

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