I joined with Oklahoma tribal leaders to celebrate industry success at the Oklahoma Indian Gambling Association (OIGA) annual conference. The 2021 OIGA conference and trade show was held August 16-18 and brought together all 39 sovereign tribal nations at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.

Along with Executive Director Jason Giles we helped kick off the conference with a panel discussion in front of tribal gambling leaders and industry professionals, where we discussed the challenges Indian Country has faced during the pandemic.

This was an unprecedented time and challenge for Indian Country and our tribal leaders. It took a tremendous amount of unity and information sharing to overcome all the unknowns of the virus when our gambling operations were forced to shut down to protect our communities.

The National Indian Gambling Association immediately adapted to the new normal. We joined with our member tribes to organize our congressional outreach to meet this most pronounced challenge in our history.

We couldn't get on a plane and travel to Washington DC, but we spent countless hours in virtual meetings, webinars, and conference calls with federal decision makers

Everyone answered the call, and through our work together, tribal governments secured significant resources in both the CARES Act and the American Rescue plan to alleviate the health and economic impact of the pandemic on Native communities. These resources provided us with a bridge to keep Indian Country moving, while protecting and helping to heal our people.

Later, National Indian Gambling Commission (NIGC) Chairman Sequyah Simermeyer and Vice Chair Jeannie Hobland announced revenues of $27.8 billion for 2020, a decrease of nearly $7 billion from 2019, which was not expected given the shutdown that occurred during the year. He shared that the most impacted regions were California and the Upper Midwest.

This decline in gross gambling revenue (GGR) was expected; what was not known was the impact COVID-19 had on Indian gambling. Each year, the annual GGR figure tells a story about the successes of Indian gambling, contributions to Indian communities, and economic impacts. This was further highlighted during the pandemic.

However, tribes were at the forefront of creating standards, developing new safety protocols, and sharing community resources. I predict that this decline is only a temporary setback for Indian gambling.

The NIGC report on tribal gambling revenues for 2020 represented an amazing affirmation of the unity and hard work of Indian Country during this pandemic.

Our early projections for 2020 showed revenues down 50% or more, but tribal gambling recovered faster than expected, and it was accomplished with safety first and thanks to the hard work of our tribal gambling regulators.

Compared to other industries that relied heavily on federal government subsidies and have yet to fully recover, the $27.8 billion in tribal gambling revenue by 2020, during the worst pandemic of our lifetime, reflects the resilience of our industry. It is a success story that is still being written. All credit must be given to our tribal governments, our tribal gambling regulators, who have teamed up with all of our frontline employees who worked tirelessly to ensure our safety and economic survival. The tribal gambling industry is experiencing a solid rebound. We are working to rebuild carefully and safely as we move forward in this challenging era. Hats off to all of them.

The NIGA has been in regular contact and has worked hand-in-hand with the NIGC and the tribes throughout these unprecedented times. It is important to maintain this dialogue as we rebuild this industry because we must remain diligent in our efforts until everyone recovers.