Rapid City has been awarded the National Indian Education Association convention for 2013, according to a news release from the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

CVB executive director Michelle Lintz said that more than 2,500 delegates attended the last time Rapid City hosted the NIEA convention in 1996.

"It has an enormous economic impact for the community," Lintz said in the news release. "This opportunity to host them again and allow them to explore Rapid City and the Black Hills will undoubtedly result in one of their best meeting venues ever with the Native history and culture."

The National Indian Education Association is a membership based organization committed to increasing educational opportunities and resources for Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students while protecting our cultural and linguistic traditions.