Arthur Raymond Halbritter

Arthur Raymond (Ray) Halbritter (1951 – Present) is the current Nation Representative and CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises. A former ironworker and a member of the Oneida Indian Nation's wolf clan

Background

According to Haudenosaunee tradition, the Oneida clan mothers of the wolf, bear, and turtle clans select the chiefs who represent the Oneida nation on the Grand Council of Chiefs, which oversees the Six Nation Confederacy.

During much of the 1970s and 1980s, the New York Oneidas were beset by leadership conflicts. In 1977 the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee acknowledged three individuals, Lyman Johns, Richard Chrisjohn and Arthur Raymond Halbritter, as messengers for the Oneida people residing in Central New York. With the death of Johns and Chrisjohn, Halbritter assumed unilateral powers and created an organization called the "Men's Council"; a decision alleged to have been made without the approval of the Oneida people and condemned by the Grand Council.

In 1993, Mr. Halbritter negotiated a gaming compact for the Oneidas with New York governor Mario Cuomo, which made it possible to build the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in central New York, a highly profitable business venture. This casino became the cornerstone of an expansive Oneida business enterprise that now includes a chain of gas stations, a textile factory, and a luxury hotel. The business is incorporated as the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, Inc. with Ray Halbritter as its CEO. The corporation has become one of the largest employers in the area (with an approximate 5,000 non-Indian jobs). The corporation holds the upper hand in the local economy, a fact which rankles many of its white neighbors.Fact|date=June 2008

This business enterprise has brought a long-elusive prosperity to many Oneida people. Casino profits have helped build: a health center, a recreational gymnasium, a swimming pool, a cultural center, and a museum. Additionally, the profits have provided scholarship programs, job training, day care, legal assistance, and Oneida language classes. Local residents — who have objected to the business enterprise controlled by Mr. Halbritter — believe that since Federal financing helped put these facilities in place they deserve fair access.Fact|date=June 2008

Critics

Some Oneidas criticize Mr. Halbritter's initiatives, claiming he violated the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee by embracing gambling. This group of Oneidas also fault him for selecting his own clan mothers and for creating a "men's council," both practices are unheard of in Haudenosaunee tradition.

In 1993, the Grand Council of Chiefs removed Mr. Halbritter as the Oneida wolf clan representative and notified the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that he no longer represented the Oneida people.Fact|date=June 2008 The decision was accepted by the BIA, only to be reversed 24 hours later, reportedly under pressure from Sherwood Boehlert, the U.S. congressional representative for the area and a casino supporter.Fact|date=June 2008

Today the U.S. government — but not the Grand Council of Chiefs — gives official recognition to the Oneida Indian Nation with Ray Halbritter as its representative.

Ray Halbritter has characterized this conflict as an internal family dispute between himself and his aunt Maisie Schenandoah. Maisie Schenandoah is the clan mother who originally appointed him to the Grand Council to represent the Oneidas. But Maisie Schenandoah sees it as a struggle between two competing ways of governance: the traditional structure advocated by the Grand Council of Chiefs and the corporate structure advocated by Ray Halbritter. She accuses her nephew of operating under self-assumed authority.Fact|date=June 2008

Education

B.S. in business administration from Syracuse University; J.D. from Harvard Law School