NIGA 2009 (Day 1)

Arrived at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix at 3 pm. My pal Victor Rocha wasn't in, so I decided to walk around the area taking pictures. I love the mixture of art and architecture in Southwest cities: high-tech structures of glass and steel, facades of sand-colored stones, Mission-style churches, and statues and abstract art. I took about 115 photos in an hour of meandering.

Victor and I drove to the Wild Horse Pass Casino on the Gila River reservation about 16 miles south of Phoenix. We attended a launch party for Sovereign: An Oral History of Indian Gaming, a book by Suzette Brewer. Among those in attendance were John Echohawk of NARF and Mark Van Norman of NIGA.

The book is unusual for two reasons. First, except for the introduction, it's composed entirely of interviews. There's no connecting text to provide background or context. Second, the last quarter of the book consists of brief descriptions of gaming tribes. These tribes "sponsored" (paid for) the book and got ad-like profiles in exchange.

Anyway, we met the author and got signed copies of the book. Since we hadn't eaten all day, we had dinner at the Wind Dance buffet. I had four servings of food, which is about average for me. Meanwhile, Victor returned to the book signing and then headed for the Jam on the Rez concert.

I joined him near the end of the concert, which starred Gladys Knight. I was in time to see her finale, the inevitable Last Train to Georgia. I'm always impressed to be within a few dozen feet of a real live superstar. Then we returned to our hotel.

For more on the subject, see NIGA 2009 Coming Up and The Facts About Indian Gaming.