Indian Country Today interviews Ernie Stevens, the chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, about the 25 years since the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in October 1988:
What are your thoughts on IGRA and NIGA? The Morongo and Cabazon decision should have opened up an industry for Indian country, a new world for us, and we did ultimately do that, but [with] NIGA, we knew we were going to be up against it. We knew there were going to be challenges and we wanted to prepare for that, so we got some of our most astute leadership to stand firm, yet diplomatic and respectful, to try to tell Washington and those states that we’re not standing down and we’re not giving any ground. Obviously, when Congress makes a law we have to follow it, but those people who stood firm…are adamant that we should not have yielded to the changes that took away tribal sovereignty. Of course, we didn’t have any choice—the law is the law, we have to move forward. Those leaders, those administrators, those regulators, those gaming managers made the best of a law that took us backward, took away our rights. We celebrate the work we do despite the fact that the victory in Morongo and Cabazon became a setback in [the form of] IGRA. We do the best with that [limitation]. Those folks knew we were going to have to defend our rights and engage in Washington, D.C. and throughout the United States and deal with—how can I say it?—when people make stuff up.… Lies? Ha, yeah—we’ve got to figure out a more diplomatic word for lies! NIGA was formulated to protect our industry, advocate for our industry and to educate about our industry, and those forefathers had a brilliant idea, and I’m just a part of utilizing their energy, their direction and their encouragement. So I don’t celebrate IGRA—I celebrate what the leadership did to make the best of their conditions. They’re the ones that have made Indian gaming the success it is.Get the Story: