From a tiny hotel to a $400M resort: OKANA was 50 years in the making for Chickasaw Nation
The $400 million OKANA resort that is about to open along the Oklahoma River will represent a powerful boost to Oklahoma City's tourism industry. But for the Chickasaws who made it a reality, the investment is also a reminder of how far they've come from when they started their first business, a humble motel, more than 50 years ago.
The Chickasaw Nation is one of Oklahoma's largest employers, with a workforce of 12,856 statewide, of which 2,557 work in Oklahoma City. The tribe operates over 100 successful businesses, including gaming at the world's largest casino, hospitality, tourism, banking, manufacturing, chocolates and an array of other large and smaller ventures.
A recent study concluded the Chickasaw Nation's economic impact on Oklahoma totals $5.5 billion. The origins of this success story start with a tribe fighting back against efforts to end the sovereignty of Native Americans throughout the United States.
Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, grew up at a time when the tribe's future was uncertain as the U.S. Congress enacted a 'termination policy' to do away with tribes altogether.
Anoatubby's Chickasaw heritage was through his father, who passed away when he was still a child. But that didn't cut his connection to the tribe.
'I grew up understanding the importance of connecting with other Chickasaws and First Americans,' Anoatubby said. 'My grandfather on my mother's side had a close relationship with Chickasaws, and he would often use Chickasaw words around the dinner table. He helped me understand that being Chickasaw was something to be proud of.'
Such pride was shown as Chickasaw leaders successfully fought back against the termination policy, and in October 1960, the Chickasaw tribal council was re-established. More than 100 Chickasaws gathered at Seeley Chapel near Connerville at a time when tribal budgets were reliant on federal funding and insufficient to address the needs of citizens.
'That is where the movement began,' Anoatubby recalled during his October State of the Nation address. 'They were driven by a vision of sovereignty and self-determination. They were emboldened to proudly embrace our past, evaluate our present and plan for a better future.'
Sulphur was a regional destination when the ornate Artesian Hotel was built in 1905. In early years, the hotel served as a 'summer state Capitol' for governors beginning with Charles Haskell.
Residents were shocked when the landmark was destroyed in a blaze in 1962 that coincided with a drop in visitors who were once drawn to Platt National Park (now Chickasaw National Recreation Area) and the city's springs.
That next year, a group of local and out-of-state investors spent $750,000 to build a new, 72-room motel on the Artesian Hotel site. Glen R. Key, president of First National Bank of Sulphur, took out an advertisement in the local newspaper listing construction of the motel as his top wish for 1963.
Sulphur Times Democrat editor Paul John predicted the motel would help the city thrive again.
'Sulphur will once again be a mecca for tourists as in the days of old,' John said. 'Conventions will return to Sulphur and we predict even more motels will be needed to accommodate the growth of Sulphur.
The motel opened in May 1964 boasting of mineral baths and a nod to the Artesian Hotel's history. The venture lost money, became a run-down, decaying eyesore and ended up in foreclosure.
The Chickasaw Nation submitted a successful bid to buy the motel for $138,000 in 1972. The tribe at the time employed about two dozen people, and annual revenues totaled less than $750,000.
The tribe obtained a grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for renovations and started a $200,000 makeover while still trying to keep the motel open for guests.
As reported in a 1975 article in The Daily Oklahoman, the Sulphur Chamber of Commerce, churches and civic groups pitched in with labor and loaned silverware, dishes and chairs to bring an immediate upgrade while renovations were underway.
More: What can you do at OKANA when it opens? A look at attractions and amenities
Months passed, and the slow but steady transformation continued with new furnishings, air conditioning and drapes. The pool was enclosed, and the tribe added a men's store, curio shop, health club and beauty salon. Native American art and murals were added, along with the great seal of the Chickasaw Nation.
Once the renovation was completed, the motel also operated as the headquarters for the tribe.
Anoatubby said the Chickasaw Motor Inn attracted numerous morning coffee drinkers, served as the meeting site for countless local civic clubs, and was a local favorite meeting spot for Sunday afternoon lunch.
'While revenues varied some through the years, it proved to be a very good long-term investment,' Anoatubby said. 'Operating the motor inn helped us understand the potential of business diversification and economic development to enhance the lives of Chickasaws and our neighbors.'
More: Sulphur, Chickasaw Nation are using a history of healing to help tornado-ravaged town
Dan Boren, commerce secretary at the Chickasaw Nation, grew up knowing Anoatubby through interactions with Dan's father, David Boren, who served as Oklahoma governor and then as a U.S. senator.
Dan Boren's ties to the tribe grew as he served as a field representative for then Rep. Wes Watkins.
'There weren't nearly the number of programs, services and infrastructure that there are today,' Boren said. 'There were less employees. Before he was elected in 1987, Governor Anoatubby was lieutenant governor, and he was an employee before that. He was an accountant. There were less than 30 employees when he was employed.'
Boren was hired by the tribe just as it was celebrating construction of the new Artesian Hotel, built where the motel and original hotel once stood. By that time, the Chickasaw Nation was undergoing a transformation boosted by the passage of the Indian Gaming Act in 1987.
The casino business, however, didn't start immediately. The tribe diversified its investments.
The Chickasaw Nation bought Bedré Fine Chocolate in 2000, which was started as a small business in a former elementary school near Ada. The tribe built a new manufacturing plant for the chocolates, where production can sometimes be viewed by visitors to the adjoining store located in Davis.
The Chickasaws chose land in Thackerville, just north of the Texas border, to open WinStar casino in 2003, which is now the world's largest gaming destination.
'It was a peanut field,' Boren said. 'It didn't start with what people see today; the largest casino in the world. It started incrementally with a tent. There was a bingo hall. The budget of the Chickasaw Nation was much smaller, so there weren't the resources to build full-scale facilities.'
WinStar World Casino and Resort (renamed in 2010) features 1,700 hotel rooms, spread over four towers. Of the tribe's 14,500 employees (including those working outside of Oklahoma), 2,869 are at WinStar.
'We didn't build all of it overnight,' Boren said. 'We built over time with the profits of the gaming.'
By growing incrementally, the tribe was able to create a set of 'core competencies' and a labor pool that draws from both Oklahoma and Texas. One misconception among some is that the tribe only employs Chickasaw Nation citizens.
'There are about 80,000 Chickasaw citizens, and there are 14,500 employees, not all of whom are Chickasaw members,' Boren said. 'Some are members of other tribes, some are not tribal members. We employ a lot of non-Native employees ... that goes back into tax dollars, and we're providing a lot of jobs in rural Oklahoma that really make a difference in those communities.'
The success at WinStar led to further diversification that included tobacco shops, travel plazas, a publishing company, day care, radio station and an electrical utility. The Chickasaw Nation made inroads into Oklahoma City that included buying Remington Park and Casino in 2010. The tribe then spent millions upgrading the track and grandstand.
That investment, in turn, benefited the city.
'Remington Park sends $1.5 million annually to the zoo trust,' Boren said. 'Being in that same geographic area, there is a lot of support that goes from Remington Park to the zoo.'
The Chickasaws also paid for naming rights for the Bricktown Ballpark and sponsored construction of a sculpture and monument along the Bricktown Canal that showcases the tribe's history.
In recent years, the tribe also bought the former Sportsman's Country Club in northwest Oklahoma City and converted it into a wellness and community center for its citizens. Chickasaw Community Bank, started in 2002, moved into a new Oklahoma City headquarters last year that features a 26-foot-tall Chickasaw Warrior sculpture at the entrance.
The tribe's investments now include energy, health care, manufacturing, defense, technology and retail. By 2013, the Chickasaws were already a major player in state tourism in which it promoted attractions along the Interstate 35 corridor, including those in Oklahoma City. And that reputation wasn't overlooked when the tribe took on its biggest investment yet in the state's capital city.
Anoatubby was in the room when, at the request of the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, a panel met to discuss how to best celebrate the legacy and heritage of the state's 39 tribes. From that group meeting in 1986, a road map was chosen by Oklahoma Gov. Henry Bellmon.
Years passed as a commission was set up, funding was studied, and then a site was chosen at the crossroads of Interstate 35, Interstate 40 and what was then the North Canadian River.
The site took some vision; the MAPS-funded dams, trails and landscaping that transformed the river had yet to be started when the location was chosen in 1998. The traffic count passing the site at the time topped 100,000 vehicles a day, but the property itself was far from picturesque. The river at the time was little more than a drainage ditch thanks to a flood control project completed in the 1950s.
The museum was well under construction when state lawmakers balked at providing more funding for its completion. Construction stopped in 2012 with legislators leaving in question the fate of $90 million already spent on the attraction.
The state was failing to meet its obligations of an agreement with Oklahoma City to complete the museum, and the city began to look at how to claw back ownership of the property, along with the half-finished museum.
Behind the scenes, however, a discussion started between the city and the Chickasaws on how they could take over the project from the state and get the museum finished and opened.
The deal struck with the state required the city to provide the tribe with the 140 acres surrounding the museum, and in turn the Chickasaws agreed to complete construction and cover operating deficits of up to $2 million a year for the first seven years after the museum opened.
More: Tourism destination planned by Chickasaw Nation has a new name: the Horizons District
The First Americans Museum opened in 2021; that same year, the Chickasaws announced their plans to build a $400 million resort on the land surrounding the museum.
OKANA, which opens on Feb. 21, is expected to further transform Oklahoma City into a regional tourist draw with a mix of shops, restaurants, entertainment, a 100,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, an 11-story, 404-room hotel, an outdoor recreational lagoon and conference center.
Oklahoma City, in addition to providing the land for OKANA, also provided $102.2 million in tax increment financing assistance, a landing for the Oklahoma River Cruisers and a pedestrian bridge linking the resort with trails along both shores of the waterway.
Discussions, meanwhile, continue on the possibility of building an aquarium as part of a future phase for OKANA, and more development is likely along the west half of the property abutting I-35.
In the meantime, the Chickasaws also invested in the purchase and $15 million renovation of the city's historic Skirvin Hilton Hotel.
More: Anoatubby: We've made it our practice to work closely with our neighbors in government
Mayor David Holt, himself a member of the Osage Nation, praised the Chickasaws not just for their investment in the city, but also their philanthropy ranging from United Way to scholarships at area universities.
The Chickasaws, Holt said, have taken on a role that was once historically held by a handful of energy companies.
'Their impact on our visitor economy is becoming quite significant,' Holt said. 'And they've quietly invested in other endeavors in and around Oklahoma City. Their name is almost always at the top of the sponsor list for any major event or effort in this city.'
Steve Lackmeyer started at The Oklahoman in 1990. He is an award-winning reporter, columnist, author of seven books about the history of Oklahoma City and a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. He covers Oklahoma City real estate, urban development, transportation and economics for The Oklahoman. Contact him at slackmeyer@oklahoman.com. Please support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKANA resort opening a symbol of Chickasaw Nation's impact in Oklahoma
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The technology these founders have created has effectively dissolved any sense of shared reality by allowing anyone to create and propagate alternate realities which leads to the unraveling of the global order. But more interesting than the consequences of this technology, which we are in many ways already aware of, is the way in which the founders have isolated themselves from their own reality, both intentionally and unintentionally. After about 30 mins of dialogue laced in the idiomatic gibberish of Silicon Valley … 'first principles' .. 'post-human'… 'decel' … 'p(doom)' … 'game theory' … 'chunky numbers' … you realize these characters have nothing meaningful to say to each other, whether socially or in response to the global catastrophe they helped create. While there is a tinge of the tragic in their inability to communicate emotionally with each other, there is also something powerful in the artifice of their language, which protects them from having to meaningfully take responsibility for their actions. Viewing the potential collapse of the world through their screens, a vantage point from which nothing can be known for certain, the artificiality of their language lends an artificiality to the events, regardless of whether or not they are really happening. The collapse of a country's economy gets referred to as 'de minimis,' news of the mayor of Paris's assassination becomes an example of the 'compound distillation effect of the content.' But when the four characters end up bunkered in the basement, erroneously fearing retaliation from Iran's Revolutionary Guard, it's clear that they are as susceptible to the fake reality their technology has created as any of its users. Whether you find Mountainhead successful satire may depend on your priors. However, in the wake of DOGE, Elon's takeover and remaking of Twitter and the enthusiasm with which our major AI companies are cheerleading a new cold war with China, it's hardly a work of speculative fiction. In Jon Stewart's farewell speech from the Daily Show in 2015, he claimed that the bullshitters were getting lazy and that vigilance was our best defense. But his framing assumed a continued dichotomy between the bullshitters and the bullshited. He didn't offer any advice on what to do when there's no longer a difference. — Derick Dirmaier
