On September 15, the University of North Dakota hosted its first-ever Distinguished Public Administrator in Residence event, co-sponsored by the UND School of Law and the UND College of Business and Public Administration.

Phil Hogen, the long-time chair of the NIGC, was our Distinguished Public Administrator.  Professors Richard Missens and Bob Kayseas, both from the School of Business and Public Administration at First Nations University of Canada, were our distinguished guests.

Hogen, Missens, and Kayseas guest lectured in classes at the School of Law and College of Business and Public Administration, including Tribal Economic Development, Entrepreneurship, Administrative Law, Principles of Banking, Federal Indian Law, and Principles of Microeconomics.  They also met informally with students and faculty, and spent time with our Native American Law Student Association.

During his keynote lecture at the School of Law, Hogen called Indian gaming "the greatest economic development tool that's ever come to Indian country."  In addition to the industry's economic impacts, Hogen spoke about the "sparkle in the eyes" of tribal members, reflecting pride in well-run gaming enterprises, employment, and economic success.  He emphasized that the "whole thing" -- Indian gaming under IGRA -- only works with strong tribal governments.

Immediately following Hogen's lecture was a panel on First Nations gaming in Canada.  The panel, moderated by Dr. Steven Light of the UND College of Business and Public Administration, featured Missens and Kayseas.

Missens, a leading academic expert on First Nations gaming and governance in Saskatchewan, described the history of Aboriginal gaming in the province.  The panel provided an excellent comparative perspective, as Missens and Kayseas explained the collaborative efforts of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations in creating the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority, which operates six casinos on behalf of the First Nations in the province, and distributes the revenue to the Nations.  (More on this later -- it's very interesting!)