L to R; Top Row: Marshal Gover, Council member seat #4, George Howell, Pawnee Business Council President, Buddy LoneChief, Pawnee Business Council Vice- President, Gwen Shunatona, Trustee Board member of Pawnee Nation College, Elizabeth Blackowl, Council Member seat #2 and Christi Modlian, Board member of NIGA. Bottom Row: Ernie Stevens Jr., NIGA Chairman, and Dr. Todd Fuller, President of Pawnee Nation College.
The Pawnee Nation College in Oklahoma has teamed up with the National Indian Gaming Association to offer a tribal gaming program. The program will provide tribal gaming instruction and education to tribal members and employees at the college. It's being called the first of its kind at a tribal college. "I am an educator by heart and by trade," said NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr., a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. “Tribal colleges, for me, are the best place in the whole world. I have five kids and all of those kids are completely educated through the tribal college system. If we can do more through tribal colleges, then our people are better and our communities are stronger.” Stevens and Pawnee Nation College President Todd Fuller signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this month to start the partnership.