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Edward Gray receives OIGA Chairman’s Award

Continuing to set high standards in the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Industry, Gray is the general manager of Osage Casinos & Hotel in Skiatook

The Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association awarded Edward Gray with its Chairman’s Award at the 29th Annual OIGA Conference in Trade Show in Oklahoma City on Aug. 12.

“This recognition is a shared accomplishment, and I am honored to be a part of advancing the Osage Nation and providing high-quality entertainment for our Skiatook community,” Gray said in a news release.

Gray has been with Osage Casinos for 21 years and has been the general manager of the Skiatook location since 2009.  

“We deeply appreciate Edward’s dedication to Osage Casinos and our Nation,” said Kimberly Pearson, Osage Casinos CEO in the release. “His leadership has been crucial in helping others grow into skilled professionals, embodying the excellence we strive for and the excellence this award represents.”

The Osage Casinos Skiatook location opened in 2007. The Skiatook location broke ground on an expansion in October 2012 and was completed in December 2013. A second expansion phase was completed in February 2020, which added floor space and a high-limit room.

Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Indian Gaming

According to the OIGA website, “This award honors those in Oklahoma Indian Gaming Operations who have worked through the ranks and made significant impact in their own workplaces and communities and who have also been living examples of the positive impacts that Oklahoma’s Tribal Government Gaming industry has brought.

“These recipients epitomize the intent and purpose of Tribal Government Gaming Operations. Their personal achievements and growth has helped the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Industry achieve the high level of success that we now enjoy.

“These milestones of their success are not only measured in actual dollars or profits for their tribal benefactors, but the personal, professional and spiritual growth of those involved in this industry.

“Most importantly, these honorees have helped our young people grow into strong young men and women, and have proven that if given the opportunity, ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things, thanks to the dedication and discipline that this industry offers its members.”

OIGA, established in 1986, is a non-profit organization of tribal Nations with other non-voting associate members representing organizations, tribes, and businesses engaged in tribal gaming enterprises from around Oklahoma. The common commitment and purpose of OIGA is to advance the welfare of Native Americans economically, socially, and politically. More information is available at https://oiga.org/.

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Shannon Shaw Duty
Shannon Shaw Dutyhttps://osagenews.org

Title: Editor
Email: sshaw20@gmail.com
Twitter: @dutyshaw
Topic Expertise: Columnist, Culture, Community
Languages spoken: English, Osage (intermediate), Spanish (beginner)

Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage from the Grayhorse District, is the editor of the award-winning Osage News, the official independent media of the Osage Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Indigenous Peoples Law. She currently sits on the Freedom of Information Committee for the Society of Professional Journalists. She has served as a board member for LION Publishers, as Vice President for the Pawhuska Public Schools Board of Education, on the Board of Directors for the Native American Journalists Association (now Indigenous Journalists Association) and served as a board member and Chairwoman for the Pawhuska Johnson O’Malley Parent Committee. She is a Chips Quinn Scholar, a former instructor for the Freedom Forum’s Native American Journalism Career Conference and the Freedom Forum’s American Indian Journalism Institute. She is a former reporter for The Santa Fe New Mexican. She is a 2012 recipient of the Native American 40 Under 40 from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. In 2014 she helped lead the Osage News to receive NAJA's Elias Boudinot Free Press Award. The Osage News won Best Newspaper from the SPJ-Oklahoma Chapter in their division 2018-2022. Her award-winning work has been published in Indian Country Today, The Washington Post, the Center for Public Integrity, NPR, the Associated Press, Tulsa World and others. She currently resides in Pawhuska, Okla., with her husband and together they share six children, two dogs and two cats.

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