Michael Hoenig, general counsel for the National Indian Gaming Commission, is leaving office effective Jan. 27.
“It is with mixed emotions that I depart NIGC,” Hoenig wrote. “I am sincerely grateful to have been privileged enough to get to serve with the amazing staff to advance the mission and purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act — to protect Tribal gaming as one of the most important economic resources in Indian country.
“I look forward to continuing that mission from a slightly different perspective in this new role with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians,” owners of Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Hoenig will become a vice president and the associate general counsel for gaming at San Manuel’s tribal offices in California.
Hoenig’s departure comes at a turbulent moment for the NIGC. It recently levied fines on the Catawba Nation for an unapproved casino-management contract, a judgment the Catawba are appealing. Also, over the weekend, the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians pulled out of California’s tribal-regulation system and asserted that they would answer to the NIGC alone.
After Hoenig’s announcement, NIGC Chairman E. Sequoyah Simermeyer lauded his seven-year tenure as general counsel, the culmination of 16 years of work at the regulatory body.
“Mike’s solution-driven approach helped to institutionalize a number of new practices in the General Counsel’s office. These improvements maximized the skills of legal staff and attorneys and have been important in attracting and building one of the best legal teams the agency has ever had,” Simermeyer said.
For time time being, Rea Cisneros of the Anishinaabe-Lac Courte Oreilles tribe will serve as interim general counsel, backstopped by Six Nations Mohawk member Esther Dittler as acting associate general counsel, a role she will share with Sharon Avery of the Anishinaabe–Saginaw Chippewa.
