In 1836 the tribe’s reservation was located on the Manistee River, in large part, to provide the Bands with a permanent home which gave them access to important hunting and trapping territories on the Manistee River system.įollowing the 1855 treaty, the nine Bands from whom the Little River Ottawa descend, established a major settlement known as “Indian Town” on the Pere Marquette, near present day Custer in Mason County, Eden Township. In these village sites, approximately nineteen in all, the tribe lived for many years. The Little River Band of Ottawa moved to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, ranging from the Manistee River in the north to the Grand River in the south. Those southern bands shared hunting and trapping territory along the Pere Marquette and Manistee River systems and had close kinship ties to the northern Grand River Bands at Pere Marquette and Manistee.

The permanent villages of the Grand River Bands from which the Little River Ottawa descended were originally located on the Thornapple River, Grand River, White River, Pere Marquette River and the Big and Little Manistee Rivers. LRBOI is the political successor to nine of the nineteen historic bands of the Grand River Ottawa people. The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (LRBOI) is a Native Sovereign Nation based in Manistee, Michigan. Little River Casino Resort is a wholly owned enterprise of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. By 2007, Little River realized its full design with the latest expansion that included the Makwa Endaat event center, expansion of its restaurants and hotel, and the inclusion of a fantastic winter garden under a beautiful pyramid of glass. In 2002 the first phase of the current casino was opened to the public with an expanded slot floor and hotel.

In 1999, the first Little River Casino site opened its doors (the original building is still utilized for administrative offices just next door to the current casino site). The casino also offers three restaurants, over 90 spaces in its RV Park, and 292 spacious rooms in its northern lodge hotel. Located at the intersection of US 31 and scenic M-22, Little River offers over 1,500 slots, BINGO, and a variety of table games 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Not far outside the Victorian port city, you’ll find one of Michigan’s favorite gaming destinations, Little River Casino Resort.

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