MESSAGES FROM THE CHIEFS

Very soon, before our next (November 2025) newsletter arrives to your mailbox, the Golden Mesa Casino and Hotel will be open. This major investment in the Tribe’s future guarantees prosperity for our grandchildren and their families. I couldn’t be more excited about the potential growth and strength the expansion will provide for our government and our people. 

These next several months will be exciting to see how fast our investment in the panhandle will be able to contribute to our growth and ability to assist Shawnee families. The Shawnee Tribe has $70 million of investment from many parties that we will need to repay to our bank and others who saw the wisdom to invest with us for this bright future. 

I will confess that when Chief Sparkman told us that he was attempting to obtain some property in western Oklahoma for our casino, I was a doubting Thomas. We were successful because of Chief Sparkman’s leadership and friendship with vital, key parties like Governor Annoatubby of the Chickasaw Nation and former Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallon. Almost immediately, we realized that we needed a larger facility as people were lining up on the weekend to come and enjoy themselves at our Golden Mesa Casino. 

Part of our story that is perhaps not so widely known is that as early as January 2020, we began having conversations with our Chickasaw Nation partners about a casino expansion, only to be delayed by a global pandemic, which interrupted our operations for a time. Lending partners like to see twelve continuous months of income statements, balance sheets, and other financial documents so they can feel some surety in their ability to loan money. COVID interrupted that. 

But now the day is almost here. And I am no longer that doubting Thomas. In fact, I suspect that in just a few short months we will realize we again need a bigger facility that will bring more revenue into the Tribe, but also create jobs and careers for Shawnee people and the citizens of Texas County. 

If you are able, I invite you to come out to Guymon one day and enjoy the property the Tribe has built. Our best days are ahead of us. 

Chief Ben Barnes

I hope that everyone is doing well in these trying times. I would like to begin by thanking everyone for giving me the opportunity to serve our tribe for another four years. It has been an honor to serve our tribe since 2001, when I was appointed to a vacated seat, when Scott Secondine took a brief rest from the Business Committee, and later returned. During those years, service was voluntary with a stipend of $10.00 a month being presented, followed by a raise to $25.00 once our office was moved to Miami. I remember that many council members often signed and returned those checks to the tribe. Meals at General Council were often prepared by volunteers.  

Over the years, we have gone from the Loyal Shawnee Building to the Big Cabin School Building to Miami, OK, where we now have seven buildings that house programs today and in the future. After leaving the Cherokee Nation, all our tribe had was a language grant (Shawnee Language) that the Cherokee Nation had acquired and allowed us to keep. After moving to Miami, we were able to obtain aid such as Aid to Tribal Government assistance and CCDF. Today, we have many programs covering behavioral and mental health, burial assistance, childcare assistance, domestic violence, elder assistance reimbursement, education assistance, school clothing assistance, housing and utility assistance, Indian child welfare, vehicle tags, and workforce reimbursement. Many of these programs are tribally funded, not federally funded. Our tribe now has a tribal court in Miami and Guymon, OK.  

Over the last several years, we have explored ways to recover property in our former homelands. At this moment, our tribe is limited because we lack a land base, unlike many other tribes around us. When we separated from the Cherokee Nation, we did so with the agreement that we would go without any land. The act that separated us from the Cherokee Nation further stipulated that we could not place land into trust in Oklahoma on land occupied by another tribe unless that tribe gave us permission. We were left with two choices: Oklahoma County or the Panhandle of Oklahoma.  

The trust land for gaming in Texas County was accomplished by Chief Ron Sparkman with assistance from the Chickasaw Nation and Governor Mary Fallin. The truth is that Guymon was the only place our tribe could go to in the state of Oklahoma. Some might remember that we tried twice to go to Oklahoma City. 

As I have mentioned in the past, in addition to Golden Mesa Casino, we also have Shawnee Development, which has recently expanded. 

We still have a way to go, but there are things we can do today in the form of helping each other. We can find the time and place to visit with each other with the intent of finding that connection that makes us all Shawnee. We can also build each other up, supporting those who are engaged in business. Hopefully, in the future, we can advertise Shawnee-owned businesses in one format or another. I am going to start providing information on current Shawnee businesses with each newsletter. This month, I would like to promote Blazin B’s BBQ and Catering, owned by Drew and Sara Chamberlain. You can find them at the Atwoods parking lot in Vinita, OK, on Wednesdays and in Miami, OK, on Thursdays. 

niyaawe (thank you),

Roy D. Baldridge
Second Chief