Ray Halbritter

Ray Halbritter

Arthur Raymond "Ray" Halbritter (* 1951 ) belongs to the North American Indian tribe of the Oneida . Today he is considered the most powerful Oneida of all.

Like many Iroquois , Ray Halbritter worked as an ironworker at a young age on the skyscrapers of New York and other major cities. According to his own account, he was in his early 20s and was welding tracks in the Washington DC subway tube when he looked at the worker next to him, who was also an Indian, around 50 but looked 80. That was when he realized that he couldn't go on like this. Halfbritter returned to the Oneida Reservation and studied at Harvard Law School .

In 1990 Ray Halbritter became CEO of Oneida Nation. As a result, he successfully negotiated gambling rights with New York State . The Turning Stone Casino was the first casino of the state and thus also the first casino of Oneida. The Oneida now run over a dozen casinos and other associated businesses such as luxury hotels , shops , restaurants and golf courses .

Ray Halbritter is viewed ambiguously by the Oneida. On the one hand, it brought the previously poor tribe an annual income of three times the millions and was thus able to finance a range of social benefits for the tribe members such as free medical care, comprehensive care for the elderly, alcohol and drug advice programs and heating allowances. On the other hand, the Oneida see their traditional culture threatened. When the clan mother wanted to depose him as tribe chief, he unceremoniously disregarded the rules of the tribe and replaced the clan mother with a council, which he occupied with his helpers. He controls the local media , does not allow meetings of more than five people, and prohibits traditional ceremonies. He excludes opposition Oneida from the tribe.

Web links

• Ray Halbritter on the Pages of the Oneida Indian Nation