Arthur Raymond (Ray) Halbritter (born July 17, 1951) is an American businessman who is the current Nation Representative and CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, a major casino and tobacco conglomerate in Upstate New York. He is a member of the

Oneida Indian Nation The Oneida Indian Nation (OIN) ( ) is a federally recognized tribe of Oneida people in the United States. The tribe is headquartered in Verona, New York, where the tribe originated and held territory prior to European colonialism, and continues ...

's Wolf Clan.

Biography

Ray Halbritter, Nation Representative of the Oneida Indian Nation Inc. since 1975 and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of its enterprises since 1990, has led the Oneida people to an economic and cultural renaissance during the past 30 years. His accomplishments include achieving

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

recognition of the Nation’s traditional form of government, creating numerous health and social programs for Nation Members, constructing new housing, and establishing education and culture programs. Halbritter earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in business administration from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

and his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

. An avid golfer, Halbritter passed the Players Ability Test, making him a golf pro apprentice, the first stage to become a member of the

Professional Golfers Association Professional Golfers Association may refer to: * Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland) * Professional Golfers' Association of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American or ...

. Halbritter is the grandson of Mary Cornelius Winder.

Oneida Indian Nation

Under Halbritter’s leadership, the Oneida Indian Nation endowed a professorship at Harvard Law School for teaching American Indian law, sponsored the “True Spirit of Thanksgiving,” the first-ever American Indian-sponsored float in the annual

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the American-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States ...

, and earned the 2007 Condé Nast Johansens “Most Excellent Resort” award for all resorts in the U.S. and Canada. As one of the donors to the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

’s

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

, the Oneida Indian Nation of New York had the fourth floor named in its honor. The Oneida Nation also hosts the PGA TOUR

Turning Stone Resort Championship The Turning Stone Resort Championship was a PGA Tour professional golf tournament, first played from September 20–23, 2007. It was hosted by the Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. In 2007, it was the first ...

, the first regularly scheduled green PGA TOUR event to be held on tribal lands, which was honored for Best Branding and Signage in 2009. The Oneida Nation’s businesses include

Turning Stone Resort Casino Turning Stone Resort Casino is a Native American resort casino owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation of New York (OIN) in Verona, New York. The facility opened on July 20, 1993, and offers golf amenities (on- and off-site golf course ...

Verona, New York Verona (called ''Te-o-na-ta-le'', "''pine forest''" by the Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenos ...

, Yellow Brick Road Casino in

Chittenango, New York Chittenango is a village in Madison County, New York, United States. It is in the southern part of the town of Sullivan. The population was 4,896 at the 2020 census. Chittenango is the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, author of '' The Wonderful W ...

, Point Place Casino in

Bridgeport, New York Bridgeport is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in upstate New York, United States, located partly in the town of Sullivan in Madison County, and partly in the town of Cicero in Onondaga County. The population was 1,389 as of the 2020 c ...

, the SavOn chain of

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

s, a media operation that encompasses ''

Indian Country Today Media Network ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...

,'' the largest native national weekly newspaper in the U.S., and a media production company. Halbritter is executive producer of a

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

-nominated record album, ''Raccoon & Crawfish'', and a 3-D animated exert

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

, the animation of which won a Silver Davey Award, given to the best work by small firms worldwide. It was screened at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, as well as winning numerous awards in the U.S. and abroad, including top animation honors at

Moondance Film Festival The Moondance International Film Festival is an American independent annual film festival that takes place in the fall. Founded in 1999, it has usually been held in Boulder, Colorado, and occasionally in Los Angeles and New York City.Lelas, Lisa" ...

and Big Bear International Film Festival. Halbritter produced the ''World of American Indian Dance,'' which aired on NBC, in addition to interactive animated material on Oneida history that is used at the Utica Children’s Museum. He assisted

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

with native music background for the

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

July 4 Celebration. Through its enterprises, the Nation has earned national and international recognition and honors, including Four Diamond ratings from AAA for the resort’s luxury hotels and one of its restaurants. It was named as the

Academy of Country Music The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...

’s Casino of the Year. All three of Turning Stone’s championship-caliber golf courses were listed in ''

Golfweek ''Golfweek'' is a golf magazine and digital media outlet based in Orlando, Florida, United States. It is part of Gannett's USA Today Network. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1975 by Charley Stine and was originally named ''Florid ...

'' magazine’s list of Top 100 courses in the country, in addition to receiving multiple other golf awards. (A full list of golf awards is attached.) The Nation’s Atunyote Golf Course hosts both the Turning Stone Resort Championship and the annual

Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge The Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge, or NB3 Challenge, was a charity golf tournament played at Atunyote Golf Club at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Oneida, New York. All proceeds benefit the Notah Begay III Foundation for the creation a ...

charity event, which

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

won in 2009.

Service

Halbritter is chairman of the Turning Stone Resort Championship and the Upstate New York Empowerment Fund, the charitable arm of the tournament, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for dozens of Central New York charities and civic groups. He serves on the boards of directors of the

Environmental Media Association The Environmental Media Association (EMA) is a non-profit organization which was founded in 1989 by Cindy Horn and Lyn Lear. EMA works with the entertainment industry to encourage green production and raise the public's environmental awareness. T ...

and the Harvard Native American Law Board. He is a member of the

Recording Academy National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely known for its Gramm ...

; the National Advisory Council for the American Indian Program at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

; the

National Congress of American Indians The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Alaska Native Indigenous rights, rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist U.S. ...

; and United South and Eastern Tribes. Halbritter is a board member of the

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a film museum opened in 2021 located in Los Angeles, California. The first large-scale museum of its kind in the United States, it houses more than 13 million objects, and is dedicated to the history, sc ...

Recognition

Halbritter was named one of Temple Adath Yeshurun’s Citizens of the Year in 2008. He also won the “Person of Achievement” Award from ''

The Post-Standard ''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''Th ...

'' (Syracuse), the Paul Harris Fellow Award from the

Rotary Foundation The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely ...

, an award from the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Area Chamber of Commerce for “Outstanding Contribution to the Economic Vitality of the Community,” and the

Central New York The central region of New York state includes: * Auburn in Cayuga County * Cortland in Cortland County * Oneida in Madison County * Syracuse, the largest city of Central New York, in Onondaga County * Fulton and Oswego in Oswego County ...

Sales & Marketing Executives Crystal Ball award, presented for business vision, commitment to improving the lives of his people, and the Nation’s economic contributions to Central New York. Syracuse University gave him its Distinguished Entrepreneur Award, and SU Basketball Coach

Jim Boeheim James Arthur Boeheim Jr. ( ; born November 17, 1944) is an American former college basketball coach and current Special Assistant to the Athletic Director at Syracuse University. From 1976 until 2023, he was the head coach of the Syracuse Orange ...

presented Halbritter with the Coaches Vs. Cancer Basketball Award and honored him as Fan of the Year in 2009.

Washington Redskins Protest

Halbritter has been leading a vocal protest against the name of the NFL

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

team, calling it racially insensitive. On January 31, 2014 he met with the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights at U.N. headquarters in Manhattan While his protests fell on deaf ears, the Washington Redskins finally gave up the name after Nike pulled all of its team merchandise and Fedex threatened to pull its financial backing of Fedex Stadium.Washington Redskins retire team name
/ref> On July 13, 2020, the Washington Redskins team announced its decision to retire the team logo and change its name.

Criticism

Critics inside the tribe have accused Halbritter of being a dictator, a heavy-handed leader who "answers to no one," according to Doug George-Kanentiio, the co-founder of the Native American Journalists Association. Halbritter's initiatives have been criticized by some Oneida, who say he has violated the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee by embracing gambling. They also fault him for selecting his own clan mothers and for creating a "men's council," both unheard-of practices in Haudenosaunee tradition.

References

External links

Oneida Indian Nation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halbritter, Arthur Raymond American chief executives Syracuse University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Native American leaders 1951 births Living people Native American people from New York (state) People from Oneida County, New York Oneida Indian Nation people Wolf Clan of the Iroquois