The death of Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr., has left a void in the organization, as tribes face a government shutdown and threats to their sovereignty from sweepstakes operators and prediction markets.
David Bean, current vice chair, has assumed the chairman’s role in the wake of Stevens death on Friday following a sudden medical emergency. Stevens’s services are set for Friday and Saturday at the Oneida Nation Reservation in Green Bay where he lived. Stevens will also be recognized at next week’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.
Based on bylaws, Bean, a member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians in Washington near Seattle, will hold the chairmanship until the IGA’s annual convention in April in San Diego.
Jason Giles, IGA’s executive director, said in an interview with CDC Gaming that the Board will spend the rest of 2025 celebrating the legacy of a man elected to 13 two-year terms as chairman.
“There are a lot of challenges to the Indian gaming industry and we have to keep on marching and face those challenges without our longtime leader,” Giles said. “We need a couple of weeks to grieve, support his family, and process this, but we have to keep battling, just like Ernie would want us to.”
Giles cited the looming federal government shutdown, plus sweepstakes and prediction markets as taking away revenue from Indian Country. “This illegal gambling is a constant threat and growing,” Giles said.
The IGA planned on Chairman Stevens to hit the halls of Congress this fall to address tribal concerns.
“We’ll have to do it in a different manner and try to protect the federal trust relationship with Indian Country, which we’re severely concerned about,” Giles said.
If the federal government shuts down, the IGA will have to start working with Indian Country to lessen some of those effects. If the government stays open or if there’s a short-term continuing resolution to operate, Giles said they’ll contact members of Congress to protect tribal programs and keep raising the specter of illegal gambling across the country.
“We’re gaining some headway on illegal gaming,” Giles said. “Senators have expressed concerns about underage sports gamblers on prediction markets and an unregulated market under the auspices of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“People are realizing that there’s unregulated gambling across the country,” Giles said. “Ernie was central to that last week when a lot of tribes were in D.C. We were seeing some momentum, telling everybody since February that this is potentially game over for all of gambling across the country if everybody can get on their phone and go to a prediction market.”
A government shutdown would have a huge impact on tribal services, Gile said. In the past, the shutdowns have impacted tribes immediately, because many agreements with the federal government provide police from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and extra fire prevention from the Park Service.
“All these agreements are halted. You see a significant reduction in personnel and it hits our hospitals as well,” Giles said. “It affects our own tribal police. Some of them operate on grants and they have to start furloughing officers, because they can’t afford the gas and upkeep much past a couple of weeks. It hits Indian Country right on the ground and right at our government services. And it hits Indian Country much faster than the federal government because they are able to pick and choose who they keep on board. We’re waiting for them to pick and choose and usually they furlough the people we need the most that they consider non-essential. That’s the challenge.”
The last big government shutdown was under the first Trump Administration and Giles said they learned a lot from that. It was over the winter and tribes weren’t getting their roads plowed and ambulance services were impacted. “We’re working with a lot of our organizations to come up with backstops so that doesn’t happen on the reservations again.”
When asked about Bean, Giles said he’s been a former chairman of his tribe and long-time advocate for Indian gaming in Washington state. He’s bridged the gap from when Washington was “super hostile” to Indian gaming to becoming one of the best states in the country in working with the tribes.
“Bean was central to that as councilman of his tribe and as chairman,” Giles said. “He’s been with the Indian Gaming Association off and on for the past 12 years in different roles, whether it was as a representative from the western region of the country on our Board or as vice chairman on our Board. He has leadership experience up and down Indian Country. “Everyone knows Mr. David Bean, and he brings instant name recognition in the halls of Congress.”
Victor Rocha, IGA’s tradeshow conference chair, said Bean was close with Stevens, who asked people to run for office to help create a team. Everyone on the Board was close to Stevens. Rocha called Bean smart, capable, and a worthy successor to Stevens. “The apparatus is still in place to (deal with issues tribes are facing) and David Bean steps into a well-oiled machine,” Rocha said.
The remembrances for Stevens keep pouring in from around the nation.
Heidi Grant, senior executive officer of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, released a statement referring to Stevens as a warrior in her tribal language.
“Ernie Stevens Jr. was a true tvshka for tribal gaming,” Grant said. “Yakoke, Chairman Stevens, for your many contributions to Indian Country and inspiring us all.”
Jim Klas, a Minnesota-based economic impact analyst who worked with tribes across the country, said Stevens’s death was a shock. He called him a great leader not only for tribal gaming for Indian Country overall. “He did a fabulous job of standing for Indian gaming and sovereignty and tribes in general during his more than 24 years in leadership. He did his family’s legacy, his tribe, and all of Indian Country proud with his great work.”
Klas said Stevens was “steady at the helm” and a strong advocate for tribal sovereignty and gaming. “He was in a certain sense larger than life. He was a big guy and he led for the longest time and never wavered in his duty or mission.”
Klas called Bean a good man who will do an excellent job, “capable of picking up the mantle. Nobody replaces Ernie, but the Indian Gaming Association is definitely in good hands with David and the Board and with Jason. It will move forward. Part of Ernie’s legacy is that he positioned the Association well, so that as valuable and important as he was, it will go on and will be effective. It’s a real loss, but Indian Country will go on. No question about it.”
