BOBBIE NELL VIGIL “Like a leaf in the wind,” is the way Bobbie Nell Vigil describes her first sensation at finding herself with a degree from UNM, young, single, and alone in the workforce. A stint at dealing blackjack did little to expand her horizons. An offer from her own Jicarilla Apache Tribe to manage a nonprofit effort provided an opportunity to showcase her abilities. Recruited as an assistant, she was pressed into service to run the tribe’s Jicarilla Apache Energy Company when the manager departed. She found herself supervising two dozen employees, running a small regeneration facility, and selling 300,000 to 500,000 gallons of gasoline a month. While she was discovering her talents as a businesswoman and executive, she also met and married Darryl Vigil, whose family ran the Jicarilla Inn, a tribally-owned lodging/hospitality/meeting complex in the reservation headquarters town of Dulce. Bobbie Nell became a co-manager of the Jicarilla Inn, participating in all aspects of the operation from housekeeping to purchasing and from customer relations to corporate relations with the international Best Western syndicate. As manager of the Jicarilla Inn operations, she added gaming operations to her portfolio in 2003 when tribal gaming resumed at the inn. A year later, the tribe opened a satellite casino along U.S. Highway 550, some 80 miles south of Dulce, and Bobbie Vigil assumed the duties of Chief Operations Officer of the Jicarilla Apache Nation’s Apache Nugget Casino, responsible for operations at both gaming facilities. In addition, she has taken on marketing duties. Revenues from gaming operations are currently financing a major renovation of the tribally-owned Jicarilla Inn, which will make it a full-service 21st century hospitality venue. No longer a “leaf in the wind,” Bobbie Nell Vigil has gone from blackjack dealer to being one of the most visible Indian women in upper management of the Indian gaming industry in the state. KATHY GOROSPE Today, as Government Relations Director and Legal Counsel for the Laguna Development Corporation, she is the highest-ranking woman on the Corporate Senior Management Team for the Pueblo of Laguna. Her responsibilities include managing legal and compliance aspects of the Dancing Eagle and Route 66 Casinos. It is “the perfect job,” she says, allowing her to utilize her legal training in service to her tribe, and requiring constant professional development to stay abreast of developments in the law and in the gaming industry. She works with lawmakers and regulators for gaming states and tribes throughout the country on matters of common interest, and to keep the Pueblo of Laguna current on legal and business trends affecting the industry. Vendor contracts, background investigations, surveillance systems, internal controls, customer dispute resolution, law enforcement, and regulatory coordination are all part of her daily fare. JESSICA BEARSKIN Bearskin says, “is critical for maintaining public confidence.” Now a 22-year veteran of the gaming industry, she is often up late at night, poring over changes in regulations and policies to keep Sandia gaming operations current and in compliance with applicable laws. Every machine on the casino floor has a documented history from delivery to disposal. All applicable regulations and tribal-state compact provisions must be scrupulously observed in order to protect the tribe’s position in the increasingly competitive Indian gaming industry in New Mexico. Her job is to provide the knowledge, the fairness, and, when necessary, the firmness to ensure that the rules are not sacrificed for apparent convenience. MAXINE VELASQUEZ Since 2002, Maxine has also served her own pueblo, where she is chairwoman for the Laguna Gaming Control Board. In that position, she is part of a team charged with regulating Laguna’s gaming industry by assuring tribal, state, and federal regulatory compliance. As chairwoman, she also serves as the presiding hearing officer over license revocations and patron disputes. A key to success for Indian gaming in New Mexico, Maxine says, is “continued enforcement of tribal, state, and federal laws. As a result, Indian gaming in the state will remain solid.” Interviewed separately for this article, these women all voiced the common theme that they had a livelihood before. What they have now is a chance to combine a livelihood with a dream ... to make a difference in service to their communities and their tribes.
(Jicarilla Apache) is the presidentof Tiller Research, Inc. of Albuquerque and publisher of Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations, the leading reference work on Indian tribes in the U.S. For more information, see tillerresearch.com or call (505) 797-9800. |
When the Pueblo of Laguna made a decision to recruit tribal members to serve the tribe’s growing portfolio of diversified business enterprises, Kathy Gorospe received a call in her Washington, D.C., law office. Gorospe completed law school in Oregon, coordinated tribal programs for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in D.C. and became a nationally known and respected lawyer for Indian tribes in the nation’s capital. When her own tribe called, however, she packed her bags and moved home. 
The Chair of Sandia Pueblo’s Gaming Commission credits much of her success to the work ethic developed in social services and education programs outside of New Mexico. She entered the gaming industry in 1983 as floor manager of a major bingo hall in Wisconsin. When she returned to her native Sandia Pueblo, the tribal council appointed her Executive Director of the Sandia Tribal Gaming Commission, supervising 32 employees who regulate the tribe’s gaming operations. In 2004, she was appointed as Chair of the Tribal Gaming Commission. “Continuous training for employees at every level,” 
Armed with a law degree from the University of New Mexico, Velasquez serves as in-house general counsel for the Pueblo of San Felipe. She is the tribe’s lead attorney for ensuring compliance with the New Mexico Indian Gaming Compact between the Pueblo and the state. In this role, she works with state and federal agencies on all gaming issues affecting Indian casino operations in New Mexico. 
Veronica E. Tiller, Ph.D.,