The Saracen Casino and Resort will host their grand opening at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning after some of the finishing touches of the casino Monday morning were installed, to include pottery, which is very important to the Quapaw culture.
The pottery placed inside of Saracen Casino was crafter by Betty Gaedtke, an enrolled member of the Quapaw Nation, former Council Member, and member of the Buffalo clan.
Gadtke’s grandmother, Nora Buffalo Brock, was one of the last pureblood Quapaw Indians before her death in 1987.
Gadtke spoke about her passion for Quapaw pottery.
“Several years ago, I realized my passion and learned how to make our pottery, which are hand built with the styles, decorations, and ways of my ancestors,” said Gadtke. “My pots may not be antique, but they are authentic Quapaw pottery and all of them are signed and smoked.”
Saracen Casino Chief Market Officer Carlton Saffa spoke about the pottery and how important it is to Quapaw nation.
“Our hope is that when you enter this space you see immediately that this is an Indian casino in terms of ownership and culture,” said Saffa. “That’s what matters most – not the backend regulation – weather you report to a tribal gaming commission as we do at Downstream Casino or the Arkansas Racing Commission as we do here.”
“I can think of no better way to demonstrate the Quapaw heritage than through their pottery,” Saffa continued. “The pottery is something that is important to a lot of old cultures, but to the Quapaw it is right at the top of the list in terms of what is important.”
There have been a number of “soft” openings at Saracen Casino over the past week, but the casino was closed Monday in order to give tribal members time to install the pottery.
“We are closed today, largely to install these artifacts,” said Saffa. “This is not something we wanted to do when we had people around. This is a big deal.”
Saffa also spoke about Betty Gaedtke, the artist of the pottery located at Saracen Casino.
“Betty Gaedtke is a treasure to the tribe,” Saffa said. “We wanted to fill this place with things you won’t find anywhere else in Arkansas, and weather it is the Linton Mural which makes extensive use of the artifacts you will see, or the pottery that you will see immediately upon walking inside of our property, I think you will see Quapaw culture throughout this property.”
