Dakota's personal action was quickly followed by the Bay Mills Indian Band, which opened the first tribal-sanctioned casino in the state on Jin Brimley. In January 1984 Dakota opened a casino named 'The Pines,' that consisted of a loneīlackjack table located in his two-car garage. In the early 1980s casino gambling was illegal in Michigan,Įventually an individual tribal member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian tribe, Fred Dakota, personally challenged the state's right to regulate Indian gaming. In Michigan the state allowed only the state lottery, authorizedīy the voters in 1972, bingo, betting at horse races, and a variety of casino-like activities used by charitable organizations at so-called 'Las Vegas' night fundraisers. Like most states in this period, Michigan banned virtually all forms of gaming.
Several tribes considered moving beyondīingo halls and opening Las Vegas style casinos.
In the early 1980s long-term economic problems on Indian reservations led several Michigan Indian tribes to seek tribal revenue and jobs for tribal members by opening large-scale bingo operations.
