Everything about Bay Mills Indian Community totally explained
The
Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC), known in
Ojibwe as
Gnoozhekaaning or
Place of the Pike, is an
Indian reservation forming the land base of the Sault Ste. Marie band of
Chippewa Indians. The largest section of the reservation is located in
Chippewa County, Michigan approximately 15 miles (25 km) west-southwest of
Sault Ste. Marie, in
Bay Mills Township and
Superior Township. A smaller section lies southeast of Sault Ste. Marie in western
Sugar Island Township.
With the passage of the
Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934, the Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) was one of the four original reservations established in Michigan. In 1937, land was purchased for Bay Mills and the BMIC was organized with the adoption of their Constitution and Charter on
November 27,
1937 in accordance with the IRA. These lands, along with the original Bay Mills Mission and a small area on
Sugar Island, comprise the majority of the current reservation land holdings in Chippewa County.
The area within the reservation boundaries is in U.S. trust status and is divided into two separate areas. As of the
2000 census the majority of the land base, 3.761 square miles (9.740 km²), lies northwest of
Brimley, Michigan, in the eastern parts of Bay Mills Township and Superior Township, while the remainder, 1.032 square miles (2.674 km² or 660.67 acres), lies on
Sugar Island in the
St. Marys River. Its total land area at that time was 4.793 square miles (12.413 km²) on which a population of 812 persons resided. The Tribe has also obtained additional land in the last few years, increasing the land base to approximately 3,494 acres (5.46 sq mi; 14.14 km²), of which 3,109 acres (4.86 sq mi; 12.58 km²) are in trust.
The BMIC consists of approximately 1,309 registered members. It is governed by the General Tribal Council, which consists of all voting-age members of the tribe. Daily decisions are made by the Executive Council, which consists of five elected officials (president, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, councilman).
Bay Mills Community College is an accredited tribal college operated by the community.
The tribe also operates the
Bay Mills Resort & Casino.
Since the mid-1990s, the tribe has been working in concert with casino syndicator
Michael J. Malik, Sr. and Detroit businesswoman
Marian Ilitch. Originally Malik and partners had proposed the tribe, in partnership with
Harrah's, pursue a casino in the area of Downtown Detroit referred to as Foxtown. Then Michigan voters narrowly approved a ballot measure in 1996 permitting three larger commercial casinos in Detroit. For almost a decade the partners have been working together pursuing land claims in the Hay Lake/Charlotte Beach area on the eastern shores of Michigan's northern peninsula that would be traded in settlement agreements for more lucrative casino sites in Port Huron or elsewhere. The voters of Port Huron approved of the Bay Mills casino in 2001. While the agreements were signed by the Governor of Michigan and approved by the legislature, they've stalled in Congress -- Representative
Candice Miller (MI-10th) has introduced HR. 831 and Michigan Senator
Debbie Stabenow had previously introduced S.2986
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