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HomeCommunity2024 Inauguration Ceremony to take place at Bartlesville Osage Casino July 13

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2024 Inauguration Ceremony to take place at Bartlesville Osage Casino July 13

On Inauguration Day, those six elected Congress members will take their oaths of office with a presiding ON Judicial Branch judge to start their own four-year terms.

The 2024 Osage Nation Inauguration Ceremony will be held at the newly opened Bartlesville Osage Casino & Hotel on July 13, according to the Legislative Branch.

On Jan. 31, the Congressional Affairs Committee met and heard an update on plans for the inauguration activities following the Nation’s June 3, 2024 General Election. This year, Osage voters will elect six Congress members who will join the other six sitting members in the middle of their four-year terms. 

On Inauguration Day, those six elected Congress members will take their oaths of office with a presiding ON Judicial Branch judge to start their own four-year terms. Once the oaths are administered, the 12 legislative officials will be known as the Ninth ON Congress.

At the CA meeting, Second Speaker and Committee Chair Pam Shaw asked for an inauguration planning update. Assistant Congressional Clerk Jordan Davis responded: “The (planning) committee met and toured the Bartlesville casino location and decided that will be the location for inauguration on July 13, 2024.”

In addition to the oaths of office administered at inauguration, the program also includes a keynote speaker addressing the audience.

Davis also reported ON Supreme Court Associate Justice Elizabeth Lohah Homer will serve as this year’s speaker. Lohah, now in her third term serving on the Nation’s High Court, is a seasoned attorney who has owned her own law firm for several years. She is also the daughter of the late Charles H. Lohah, who served as the first Chief Justice for the three-member ON Supreme Court when the reformed government started in 2006 until 2012.

Homer followed in her father’s footsteps to become an attorney after earning her juris doctorate from the University of New Mexico and she’s held several professional posts including Vice Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

Opened in November 2023, the Bartlesville Osage Casino & Hotel is built on 125 acres owned by the Nation, located just off U.S. 60 about two miles west of downtown Bartlesville. Property amenities include a gaming floor with 521 electronic machines and 6,210 square feet of versatile banquet and special event space, in addition to its 102-guest room hotel.

Before the new Bartlesville casino, Inauguration ceremonies historically took place in Pawhuska at the Chambers Building, including 2014 for ON government officials elected in the legislative and executive branches, as well as Judicial Branch judges re-elected by retention votes. In 2020, a scaled-down inauguration took place at the Chambers Building due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2016 and 2018 inauguration day ceremonies were held at the Skiatook and Ponca City Osage Casino Hotels respectively. In July 2022, the inauguration took place in the Skyline Event Center at the Tulsa casino and hotel.

With the 2024 election only for six Congressional seats, the inauguration planning will be under the Legislative Branch with office staff assisting Planning Committee/ Congress members Otto Hamilton, Whitney Red Corn and Congressional Speaker Alice Goodfox. 

Author

  • Benny Polacca

    Title: Senior Reporter

    Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

    Instagram: @bpolacca

    Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

    Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

    Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

    Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

    Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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Benny Polacca
Benny Polaccahttps://osagenews.org

Title: Senior Reporter

Email: bpolacca@osagenation-nsn.gov

Instagram: @bpolacca

Topic Expertise: Government, Tribal Government, Community

Languages spoken: English, basic knowledge of Spanish and French

Benny Polacca (Hopi/ Havasupai/ Pima/ Tohono O’odham) started working at the Osage News in 2009 as a reporter in Pawhuska, Okla., where he’s covered various stories and events that impact the Osage Nation and Osage people. Those newspaper contributions cover a broad spectrum of topics and issues from tribal government matters to features. As a result, Polacca has gained an immeasurable amount of experience in covering Native American affairs, government issues and features so the Osage readership can be better informed about the tribal current affairs the newspaper covers.

Polacca is part of the Osage News team that was awarded the Native American Journalists Association's Elias Boudinet Free Press Award in 2014 and has won numerous NAJA media awards, as well as awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter, for storytelling coverage and photography.

Polacca earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University and also participated in the former American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota where he was introduced to the basics of journalism and worked with seasoned journalists there and later at The Forum daily newspaper covering the Fargo, N.D. area where he worked as the weeknight reporter.

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