Posted on: June 10, 2026, 06:48h.
Last updated on: June 10, 2026, 06:48h.
- Michigan tribe challenges federal “one-bite rule” threatening casino closure
- Lawsuit seeks to overturn regulation affecting restored tribal gaming
- Case could reshape gaming rights for restored tribes nationwide
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is suing the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) to prevent it from shutting down its Crystal Shores Casino in Benzie County, Mich. – a lawsuit that could have repercussions for tribal operators far beyond Michigan.
NIGC, a federal agency within the Department of the Interior, says the casino, which opened in January 2025, is illegal because of a regulatory provision known as the “one-bite rule.”
This generally prevents a restored tribe from opening a gaming facility on certain restored lands if it is already operating casinos elsewhere. The Grand Traverse Band argues the rule is unlawful because Congress never included such a restriction in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) or any other federal statute.
According to the lawsuit, neither IGRA’s text nor Congress intended to limit restored tribes to a single gaming opportunity. The tribe argues the Interior Department effectively invented this restriction decades after Congress passed IGRA.
Third Bite of the Cherry
The Grand Traverse Band was wrongly stripped of federal recognition and much of its land in the 19th century, according to the complaint. It regained recognition in 1980 and subsequently had various parcels taken into trust by the federal government.
The tribe already operates two casinos in Northern Michigan, Leelanau Sands Casino and Turtle Creek. The Crystal Shores Casino employs about 40 people and serves as an economic development project for the tribe and the surrounding community, according to the lawsuit.
In July 2025, NIGC issued an opinion concluding that the Benzie County property was not eligible for gaming because of the tribe’s two other casinos.
The agency later rejected a proposed amendment to the tribe’s gaming ordinance and, in January 2026, issued a Notice of Violation ordering the tribe to cease gaming operations on the property.
NIGC warned that the tribe could face civil penalties of up to $65,655 per day if it continued operating the casino.
Lay of the Land
IGRA generally prohibits gaming on lands taken into trust after 1988 but includes a “restored lands” exception for tribes that were restored to federal recognition. The tribe argues that it qualifies as a restored tribe and that the Benzie County parcel was acquired as part of the restoration of its lands.
But according to the one-bite rule, to qualify for gaming a restored tribe must either show the land was part of its first trust-land acquisition after restoration or that the land was acquired within 25 years of restoration and the tribe “is not gaming on other lands.”
The one-bite rule is invalid for multiple reasons,” the tribe’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. “It contravenes the text and purpose of IGRA’s restored lands exception, IGRA’s broader statutory goals, and the Indian canon of construction.”
“The requirement that ‘the tribe is not gaming on other lands’ … finds no support in the text of the restored lands exception,” they added.
They note that when the tribe opened its Turtle Creek Casino in 1996, courts and federal regulators concluded the venue qualified under the restored lands exception despite the tribe already operating another gaming facility.
The Grand Traverse Band is asking the court to declare the one-bite rule unlawful, vacate the NIGC’s Notice of Violation and gaming ordinance disapproval, and prevent regulators from taking further action against Crystal Shores Casino.
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