{"id":97668,"date":"2025-10-01T08:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=97668"},"modified":"2025-10-01T08:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T12:22:14","slug":"ernie-stevens-jr-chair-of-the-indian-gaming-association-and-oneida-nation-leader-has-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/ernie-stevens-jr-chair-of-the-indian-gaming-association-and-oneida-nation-leader-has-died\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernie Stevens Jr., chair of the Indian Gaming Association and Oneida Nation leader, has died"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Todd Richmond MADISON, Wis. (AP) \u2014 Ernie \u201cBig Cat\u201d Stevens Jr., a driving force behind the expansion of Native American gaming for more than two decades, has died. He was 66. The Indian Gaming Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that works to protect tribes and promote tribal gaming, announced Monday that Stevens died Friday at the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. His aunt, Bobbi Webster, confirmed his death in a short telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. \u201cIt’s sort of unfathomable,\u201d Webster said of Stevens’ death. \u201cHe was pretty young and vibrant and athletic and healthy. It just came as an unexpected shock to everyone who knew him to lose him.\u201d The AP left a follow-up message with Webster inquiring about how he died. Deana Jackson, a gaming… <\/p>\n

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By Todd Richmond MADISON, Wis. (AP) \u2014 Ernie \u201cBig Cat\u201d Stevens Jr., a driving force behind the expansion of Native American gaming for more than two decades, has died. He was 66. The Indian Gaming Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that works to protect tribes and promote tribal gaming, announced Monday that Stevens died Friday at the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. His aunt, Bobbi Webster, confirmed his death in a short telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. \u201cIt’s sort of unfathomable,\u201d Webster said of Stevens’ death. \u201cHe was pretty young and vibrant and athletic and healthy. It just came as an unexpected shock to everyone who knew him to lose him.\u201d The AP left a follow-up message with Webster inquiring about how he died. Deana Jackson, a gaming... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nErnie Stevens Jr., chair of the Indian Gaming Association and Oneida Nation leader, has died - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/ernie-stevens-jr-chair-of-the-indian-gaming-association-and-oneida-nation-leader-has-died\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ernie Stevens Jr., chair of the Indian Gaming Association and Oneida Nation leader, has died - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Todd Richmond MADISON, Wis. (AP) \u2014 Ernie \u201cBig Cat\u201d Stevens Jr., a driving force behind the expansion of Native American gaming for more than two decades, has died. He was 66. The Indian Gaming Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that works to protect tribes and promote tribal gaming, announced Monday that Stevens died Friday at the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. His aunt, Bobbi Webster, confirmed his death in a short telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. \u201cIt’s sort of unfathomable,\u201d Webster said of Stevens’ death. \u201cHe was pretty young and vibrant and athletic and healthy. It just came as an unexpected shock to everyone who knew him to lose him.\u201d The AP left a follow-up message with Webster inquiring about how he died. 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