An Osage drum group performs during the preview event of the new Tulsa Osage Casino Hotel property on Aug. 28 #osagenation #osagecasino #nativeamericans #tulsa #oklahoma #wahzhazhi
Posted by Osage News on Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Osage News on Facebook: Drum group at Osage Casino

Openings & Closings

Osage Nation anticipates big payoff from $160 million expansion

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

The Osage Nation opened the doors to a new $160 million casino and hotel in Oklahoma.

The Osage Casino is located near downtown Tulsa. It features a 247,000 square-foot gaming floor with 1,500 electronic games and 16 table games, a 141-room hotel with event space, a 4,000 square-foot brewery, a new parking garage, along with a 6,000-square-foot outdoor entertainment area with a 120,000-gallon pool, a fire pit, a poolside bar and a 15-person hot tub.

"This is where we derive our revenue for our programs to serve our elderly, our youth, our language retention, and just about every aspect of our government, these casino funds have some impact," Chief Standing Bear told Public Radio Tulsa at the opening on Wednesday.

The facility is the largest in the tribe's enterprise in northeast Oklahoma. It's expected to generate about 49 percent of the tribe's income, Public Radio Tulsa reported.

“This has kind of been my dream,” Mark Simms, the chairman of the board of the Osage Nation Gaming Enterprise, told The Tulsa World. “I’ve been on it since the beginning."

The Tulsa site was placed in trust during the Obama administration after a federal appeals court said the tribe's reservation was diminished by an act of Congress.