The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations will get nearly $2 million from new slot machine gaming revenue.

Chiefs have voted unanimously to transfer $1.9 million from the First Nations Trust fund to the FSIN.

Fourth Vice Chief Heather Bear says the money will be used to replace funding they lost in federal cutbacks.

“Really, there’s four areas,” she says.  “Communications — taking control of our messaging — we look at legal strategy, we look at policy analysts, and the other one being business analysts. We need to work towards finding self-sustainability, while at the same time, fulfilling our mandate.”

The money is the revenue from the 250 new slot machines that SIGA installed in its casinos last year.