ASHWAUBENON, WI (WTAQ) – The Oneida Casino and IMAC locations reopened Thursday morning after being shut down in the wake of a deadly shooting at the adjacent Duck Creek Kitchen + Bar.
Opening the doors once again, five days later, is a big step in getting back to the normal course of business for employees, customers, and the community.
“[Improved] frame of mind and frame of business and moving things forward, so that we can at least reach out and say we’re on our way to healing,” said Oneida Nation Public Relations Director Bobbi Webster. “The parking lots are filling up and we’re not hearing anything negative right now. It seems like people are getting back to the regular course of business.”
Webster says the Oneida Nation has seen an outpouring of support, condolences, prayers, and encouragement from all over the country – including contact from the governor’s office, local representatives, the Brown County Executive’s office, Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, other tribes across the state, and even the National Indian Gaming Commission and National Congress of American Indians.
“The Oneida Nation was really fortunate to have such a great circle of support that came forward,” Webster said. “The Oneida Nation has been just so inspired and overwhelmed by the unity that our tobacco burning prayers have brought…Everybody who’s been involved and impacted by this tragedy have come together to try to gain a sense of spirituality and healing and moving forward, and we’re very pleased with the recovery that is seen as a result of our ceremonies.”
Counselors have been working consistently with employees and others impacted by the incident, and Webster says while the details are confidential – meetings have been back-to-back for most of the week.
“Certainly the counselors have been overwhelmed with the clientele coming in, all of our employees, so they haven’t had time to generate any reports or numbers to us,” Webster told WTAQ News.
She also points out that while the doors are back open, there’s still a lot of work to do as they look towards the future.
“They’re gonna have to evaluate the policies or procedures, what happened, assess how everybody came together, what worked, to see where we have to make any adjustments. So it’s going to be a continual mode of evaluation and assessment from here on, and [we’ll] continue to operate at the same time,” Webster said.
Another community-wide healing ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday morning at the Oneida Pow Wow Grounds.
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