Sometimes, life can be like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get... For Indian Gaming Association (IGA) Chairman David Bean, the phrase couldn’t ring more true. Growing up as a member of the Puyallup Tribe in Washington State, Chairman Bean learned early on the difficulties of attempting to generate economic self-sufficiency, as well as the mistreatment those living in the reservation faced from neighboring communities.

Despite federal governments’ intentions to “kill the Indian and save the child,” Chairman Bean’s Puyallup Tribe managed to expand upon Native American culture and history by supporting the classes at the Tahoma Indian Center that led to the development of the Chief Leschi Elementary School. There, the future IGA Chairman learned of various Tribal songs, traditions and values from reservations across the US, but was also “aware” enough to question where much of the same lineage rested for his own homeland. The Puyallup Tribe was no stranger to the hostility many reservations faced when attempting to establish independence in the US, forcing an alternative type of “immersion process” for those of Chairman Bean’s generation.