A former chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and Grand Chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council and his wife are Saskatchewan’s newest millionaires.
Alphonse Bird and Jacqueline Ironstand-Bird from Montreal Lake First Nation won nearly $2 million dollars from the Smoke Signal’s jackpot at the Northern Lights Casino on Sunday.
Smoke Signals is a SIGA-wide jackpot that links 44 different machines across all six of their casinos and pays out before it hits $2 million.
“It just happened,” said Alphonse Bird. “It just showed up and I had my nephew beside us and we were taking turns to win because we knew it was getting close. It was exciting.”
Bird says the jackpot win was a family win.
“We have a very strong family,” said Bird. “We hope we don’t forget anybody and life will be a little easier from now on.”
Bird says the first thing he plans to buy with his winnings is a new pair of shoes. He says him and his wife will be taking some time off, but will be returning to work.
The former FSIN chief had also spent some time as the general manager of the Northern Lights Casino and was a member of the SIGA board. SIGA officials did confirm that Bird is no longer affiliated with SIGA and the win had gone through an audit process for approval.
The Bird’s win is the largest jackpot ever won at a SIGA casino.