By Steve Karnowski
Minneapolis, Minnesota (AP)
A U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the federal government's authority to hold land in trust for Indian tribes might not affect a wealthy Minnesota tribe that's relied heavily on trust land to expand its reservation, local Indian law experts said.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, which owns the Mystic Lake Casino, has expanded its original 250-acre reservation to more than 2,800 acres in Prior Lake and Shakopee by using casino profits to buy land and put it in trust. That has sometimes put the tribe at odds with local governments because doing so takes the land off the property tax rolls and potentially affects the ability of the cities to grow.
