New Pawhuska casino-hotel sits on 'sacred ground'

The Osage Nation on Oct. 5 formally celebrated the opening of a new 87,808-square-foot casino/hotel on 63 acres at the eastern edge of Pawhuska. The gaming-and-hospitality complex had been under construction since 2021, and progress was slowed by supply chain delays.

The new facility is located just east of Highway 60/99, at the eastern edge of Pawhuska. It boasts 47 hotel rooms, more than 3,000 square feet of event spaces, 259 slot machines and a full-service restaurant. Some of the speakers at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on the morning of Oct. 5 recalled that the land where the casino/hotel now stands always seemed to have been empty.

Geoff Hager, chair of the Osage Gaming Enterprise Board, shared a much different memory. He recalled there had been one house on the property – the house where he grew up – and he told a story about a remarkable incident during his childhood, in which he narrowly escaped serious injury or worse. Hager recalled that he heard what he thought was his mother’s voice, calling out to him to stop, so that a tree limb would not fall on him.

Hager related that he thanked his mother for calling out to him, and she replied that the voice he heard had not been her voice.

“It wasn’t her that said it,” Hager said, characterizing his experience as having been an example of divine intervention. He said the land where the new casino/hotel stands is “sacred ground.”

Hager said the most-recent gaming revenue figure for the Osage Nation was some $71 million.

Kim Pearson, CEO of Osage Casinos, recalled that the property where the new attraction stands was the second property she purchased for the Osage Nation. She said the project had been some 15 years in the making for her, and more than 20 years for the Osage Nation as a whole. She voiced pride in what has been built, and in what it is expected to return to the Osage people.

The new Pawhuska casino/hotel is one of two new gaming facilities the tribe is opening in the area this fall. A new casino/hotel will soon open in the Bartlesville area, as well.

Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear clarified for those gathered that the Osage Nation’s casinos generate revenue but are non-profit ventures in the sense that the money they make is used to provide services to tribal citizens. Standing Bear cited, as an example of that arrangement, the Osage Nation’s commitment to provide funding for its citizens to pursue higher education opportunities. He cited other investments, as well, such as local road projects and tribal cultural development activities.

Standing Bear added that with more people working in the Pawhuska area, there is a growing emphasis on the construction of affordable housing.

“All this is not just chaos,” Standing Bear said, explaining that careful planning and partnership relationships are necessary to bring economic growth and greater prosperity to the Osage Nation and its neighbors. The new Pawhuska casino/hotel is to provide 119 jobs.

Assistant Chief R.J. Walker recalled that 20 years ago, the tribe thought that $250,000 of bingo revenue was a big deal. Times are gradually changing for the better, he noted.

“It hasn’t always been easy, but we’re getting better,” Walker said.

Pawhuska Mayor Mark Buchanan welcomed the honor of standing before the gathering and said the Osage Nation’s momentum reminded him of the “Energizer Bunny.”

“You all just keep going and going and going,” Buchanan said.

Alice Goodfox, speaker of the Osage Nation Congress, wished good luck for gamers who will visit the new casino.

After the speaking was done, Mason Shackelford, general manager of the Pawhuska casino/hotel, cut the ribbon while other Osage Nation leaders looked on with pleasure.