A.K. Management Company, a Michigan Corporation v. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a Federally Recognized Indian Tribe

A.K. Management Company (“AK”) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its action for declaratory relief. The district court found that AK’s Management Agreement (“Agreement”) entered into with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (“the Band”) without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was void under 25 U.S.C. § 81 (1982) and therefore unenforceable. We affirm the district court’s decision.

FACTS

Plaintiff-Appellant, AK, manages bingo projects on Indian reservations. Defendant-Appellee, the Band, is a federally recognized Indian tribe that resides on its reservation in the County of San Bernardi-no, California.

On January 7, 1984, AK and the Band entered into an agreement, which gave AK the exclusive right to construct a bingo facility and operate bingo games on the Band’s reservation for twenty years. Net profits from the games were to be divided between them, sixty percent to the Band and forty percent to AK.

In section 10(a) of the Agreement, the Band covenants to “act in good faith and take all necessary steps and execute ... [the] agreements required of it pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement, and shall not…