CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ERNEST L. STEVENS, JR. Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
O ctober 17, 2023, will mark the 35th anniversary of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. However, more than three decades after its enactment, the history and purpose of IGRA is still too often misunderstood. IGRA is not a federal program. It did not invent Indian gaming. Most importantly, IGRA did not freeze Indian gaming in time to the date of its enactment on October 17, 1988. In fact, IGRA has fostered the steady evolution of Indian gaming over the past few decades. The true history of Indian gaming stems from President Nixon’s 1970 address to Congress, which ushered in the federal policy supporting Tribal government self- determination. A handful of Tribes embraced this policy, opening the first modern-day Indian gaming operations that worked to generate revenue for Tribal government programs and services. More than a decade later, the U.S. Supreme Court, in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, rejected legal challenges to Indian gaming lodged by state governments and some commercial gaming interests. The Court upheld the inherent sovereign right of Tribal governments to conduct gaming free of state interference. In 1988, states and commercial gaming interests enhanced lobbying efforts, pressing Congress to reverse the Tribe’s
4 INDIAN GAMING - ANNUAL REPORT 2023
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