An association of tribes engaged in the casino and gambling industry has changed its name because the previous acronym of NIGA—if mispronounced—sounds like an offensive word.

The National Indian Gaming Association is now known as the Indian Gaming Association, with the acronym IGA. The new name was announced during the group's trade show and convention April 20 in Anaheim, Calif., Native News Online reported.

"This has been in the works for a long time," IGA Chair and spokesperson Ernie Stevens Jr. told Native News Online.

"People may misinterpret or even mispronounce our old acronym. We view it as a housekeeping item we wanted to clear up. We have never mispronounced our old acronym, but we wanted to clear it up," Stevens said.

The gaming association pronounced the previous acronym as "ny-ga," according to news and review site Casino.org.