The largest section of the reservation is located in Chippewa County, Michigan, approximately 15 miles (25 km) west-southwest of Sault Ste.

The city developed along both sides of the St. Mary's River, established first during the colonial era as a French and then British fur trading post.

A settled community gradually developed around the post, cosmopolitan in its varied cultures of Native American tribes, Métis people, and French and Anglo ethnic Europeans.

[1] In 1966, BMIC was one of the four founding members of the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, established to share developments and to improve relations of tribes with the state and federal governments.

As of the 2000 census, the majority of the land base, 3.761 square miles (9.74 km2), lies northwest of Brimley, Michigan, in the eastern parts of Bay Mills and Superior townships.

Daily decisions are made by the Executive Council, which consists of five elected officials (president, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, and councilperson).

The Biological Services Department strives to enhance, protect, and restore fish, wildlife, and plant communities, and bodies of water.

[3] Bay Mills Biological Services Department seeks to prevent hazardous chemicals from entering the environment by supporting recycling and waste collection.

The EPA awarded a grant of $124,400 to the Bay Mills Indian Community of Michigan to implement water resource and non-point source programs to protect human health and the environment.

Originally Malik and his partners had proposed that the tribe, in partnership with Harrah's, build a casino in the area of Downtown Detroit referred to as Foxtown.

In 1996 Michigan voters narrowly approved a ballot measure permitting three larger commercial casinos in Detroit, which would have provided too much competition.

BMIC wanted to trade such land in settlement agreements with the government for potentially more lucrative casino sites closer to population centers, such as Port Huron or elsewhere.

The tribe later gained approval for a land deal at Brimley, Michigan, on Waiska Bay west of Sault Ste.