Charlie Vig

Charlie Vig
Chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
Assumed office
August 25, 2012
Vice President Keith B. Anderson
Preceded by Stanley Crooks
Vice Chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community
In office
January 2012  August 25, 2012
President Stanley Crooks
Preceded by Glynn Crooks
Succeeded by Keith B. Anderson
Personal details
Spouse(s) Donna Vig
Children Five

Charlie Vig is Chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota. Vig served as the Vice Chairman from January 2012 until August 2012.[1] He became the Chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community following the death of Chairman Stanley Crooks, on August 25, 2012.[1][2] The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is the most influential Native American tribe in Minnesota.[1]

Vig was the youngest of his family's nine children.[1] His grandmother, Minnie Otherday, was a descendent of John Otherday, who saved many settlers and U.S. government employees during the Dakota War of 1862.[2] Vig was raised in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.[2] He moved to the region around Prior Lake in 1969 when his parents became some of the founders of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.[2] His father died from cancer when he was nine years old.[1]

He began a career in construction, specifically masonry, once he graduated from high school.[1] Vig married his wife, Donna Vig, a social worker, in 1981; they have five children - four sons and one daughter.[2]

Vig first worked for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in 1992 as a project manager for the tribe's new Mystic Lake Casino, where he oversaw just three employees at the time.[1] He became Vice President at the casino within just three years and supervised more than 800 casino employees.[1] He served on the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux's board of gambling directors for seven terms.[1] The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community now employs 4,000 people, making the tribe the largest employer in Scott County, Minnesota.[1]

Charlie Vig was elected Vice Chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in January 2012.[1] He succeeded outgoing Vice Chairman Glynn Crooks, who had served in the office for the prior sixteen years.[1]

Chairman Stanley Crooks died in office of a respiratory and lung ailment on August 25, 2012.[1] According to Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux, the vice chairman becomes chairman in the instance of a death, so Vig became chairman.[1][3] The tribe's treasurer and secretary, Keith B. Anderson, became the new Vice Chairman.[3] Vig noted that Crooks' death was a shock, but not entirely unexpected, "The chairman's health had been failing for a while, and this wasn't totally unexpected...One of the reasons I stepped up is because most of the people knew the chairman might not make it to his next term. They had the confidence in me to follow through.[1]

As chairman for the remaining three years of Crooks' term, Vig planned to continued Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community's commitment to charitable donations.[1] The SMSC has donated nearly $272 million to organizations and causes between 1992 and 2013, including more than $29 million in 2012.[4]

Outside politics Vig constructed his own campground along Bear Butte Creek, located six miles south of Deadwood, South Dakota.[1] The campground includes six cabins and 3 and a half acres for tents and RVs.[1]

References

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