National Indian Gaming Association ready for legislative summit

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Stanley Crooks, 1941-2012, is seen in Prior Lake, Minnesota, in July 1993. Photo from National Indian Gaming Association

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The National Indian Gaming Association is hosting its summer legislative summit in Washington, D.C., next week.

Last year's event drew dozens of prominent lawmakers to Capitol Hill for discussions on a wide range of issues. But this year's meeting will be special because NIGA is debuting its new home -- the Stanley R. Crooks Tribal Leaders Center -- just blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

The building at 224 2nd Street SE is named in honor of Stanley R. Crooks, who served as chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community from 1992 until his passing in 2012. He was widely recognized as a visionary tribal leader and held numerous regional and national leadership positions.

"Over the past twenty plus years, Chairman Crooks showed the courage to always stand up for Indian sovereignty in the Halls of Congress, the state capitol, and at home. Stanley always stood strong for the integrity of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which he viewed as a modern day treaty," Ernie Stevens, the chairman of NIGA, wrote in Indian Country Today in August 2012.

The grand opening of the Stanley R. Crooks Tribal Leaders Center will take place on the morning of Tuesday, June 14. A reception is scheduled later in the evening at the building.

The legislative summit itself takes place on June 15.