Leadership finds balance: Women take charge of tribes

By: S.E. Ruckman

Five American Indian tribes in Oklahoma have women as leaders.

WYANDOTTE -- Before becoming the Eastern Shawnee chief, Glenna Wallace served years as the tribe's secretary, eventually replacing her brother who was chief.

Now in public meetings, Wallace is often asked how she should be addressed, although she answers her phone with a lilting, "This is Chief Glenna."

"People want to know, 'What do we call you?' " she said. "Like chief is a man's word."

In a state with 37 federally recognized tribes, five -- or nearly 14 percent -- are led by women.

The Sac & Fox Nation has Chief Kay Rhoads; the Eastern Shawnee recently picked Wallace as chief; Bernadette Huber is ending a two-year term as Iowa Tribe chairwoman; LaRue Parker is the Caddo tribal chairwoman; and the Absentee Shawnee recently inaugurated Jennifer Onzahwah as governor.

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