Tribal conflicts surround Marian Ilitch, Mike Malik casino plans

Inter-tribal controversies surround casino syndicators Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. on various fronts.

The pair has proposed partnering for the purposes of building casino resorts with four different Indian tribes in recent years: Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians, in California; the Bay Mills Indian Community, in Michigan; and the Shinnecock Indian Nation, in New York.

Following the failure to advance plans for off-reservation casinos in California and Michigan, inter-tribal disputes have re-emerged among the leaders of both the Los Coyotes and Bay Mills tribes.

Letters between Malik and others involved with the Los Coyotes tribe have surfaced this Fall indicating a split that pits tribal elder Katherine Siva Saubel and her nephew on one side against younger tribal council members who've recently received payments from Malik and Ilitch for supporting their plan.

And a longstanding split in the Bay Mills Indian Community has been revived pitting sitting tribal leader Jeff Parker against former tribal leader John Lufkins. Malik reportedly had an affair with a younger woman who is Lufkins' daughter earlier in this decade resulting in a divorce. In addition to plans for a Bay Mills Casino in Port Huron, Malik is also reportedly behind a government funded plastics venture the tribe has entered into under Parker's leadership.