JUNEAU, Alaska — September 23, 2026 – Indian Gaming Association Chairman David Z. Bean delivered the keynote address on Tuesday at the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska’s 91st Annual Tribal Assembly. He congratulated the Tribe on opening Two Coppers Casino and urged Tribal Nations to stand together in defending their authority to govern and regulate gaming.

Speaking to delegates, elders, veterans, youth and Tribal citizens, Bean connected the Assembly’s theme, “Unbreakable Unity, Ancestral Strength,” to the work of Tribal government.

“This is tribal sovereignty in action,” Bean said of the Assembly. “Unbreakable unity means tribal nations stand together while respecting each nation’s authority and unique path.”

Bean congratulated President Richard J. Peterson, the Executive Council, delegates, the gaming team, and Tribal citizens on Two Coppers Casino. “It reflects years of planning, partnership, perseverance, and careful leadership,” he said. “It is a clear exercise of tribal sovereignty. It is a clear exercise of economic self-determination.”

Bean emphasized that a Tribal gaming enterprise serves the people whose government owns it. “Gaming serves tribal governments. Indian gaming is governmental gaming. Tribal government gaming has a public purpose,” he said. He pointed to opportunities for jobs, career advancement, Native-owned businesses, and revenue for priorities such as health care, housing, education, and cultural programs. He also stressed that each Tribal Nation must define success according to its own citizens and needs.

In his national update, Bean reported that Indian gaming gross revenue reached $46.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, up $2.3 billion, or 5.3 percent, from fiscal year 2024.

Bean also addressed online sweepstakes and prediction markets, which IGA views as threats to regulated Tribal gaming. He said IGA will continue defending the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Tribal jurisdiction and Tribal regulatory authority while demanding meaningful government-to-government consultation.

“No tribal nation should have to defend its rights alone,” Bean said. “Indian country is strongest when we stand together.”

Reflecting on the late IGA Chairman Ernest L. Stevens, Jr., Bean said, “I simply want to walk in his footsteps, as he walked in the footsteps of our elders and our ancestors.” He closed by offering IGA’s continued partnership as Tlingit & Haida builds on the opening of Two Coppers Casino. “Now we must govern it well, protect it, grow its benefits, and prepare the next generation to lead,” Bean said. He pledged that IGA stands ready to walk alongside Tlingit & Haida.