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Kalyn Free is an American attorney, former political candidate, and a tribal citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
Free was born in Red Oak, Oklahoma. [1] Free is a graduate of Red Oak High School, Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma College of Law. [1] After she graduated from law school, she began her legal career with the United States Department of Justice. [2] At the time of her employment, she was the youngest attorney ever hired by the Department of Justice. [3] [4] There, Free prosecuted federal environmental laws across the country with a special emphasis on tribal lands and even became the first Native American to serve as a supervising attorney in the department. [5] [6]
In 1998, she ran for and became the first woman and the first Native American ever to be elected District Attorney in the counties of Pittsburg and Haskell in Oklahoma. During her administration, she focused her efforts on fighting for women, children, and crime victims' rights. [3] [4] In 2004, she was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the open House seat in the 2nd Congressional District, with the support of Emily's List, the Sierra Club, and 21st Century Democrats. [4] She lost the nomination to the eventual general election winner, Congressman Dan Boren. [7] Following her 2004 bid for Congress, Free was fined approximately $10,000 by the Federal Election Commission for making excessive salary payments to herself. [8]
In 2005, Free established a political action committee devoted to electing Native American progressive candidates at the local and state level, INDN's List (Indigenous Native Democratic Network). [9] In 2008, she endoresed Barack Obama's candidacy and served as a superdelegate. [10] Free funded INDN's List out of pocket before its closure in 2010. [11]
Throughout 2011 Free worked as the attorney and senior adviser of Bill John Baker's campaign for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation against the incumbent Chief, Chad "Corn-tassel" Smith. [12] Free again served as senior advisor on Baker's successful re-election in June 2015. Currently, Free represents Baker as his Special Counsel. [13]
Free is the author of "Why? Rising to the Challenge" in Voices of the Heartland where she describes her career and struggles as a Native American.
Free has been married to Steve Bruner since 2009. [14]
Free has an interest in Japan and has represented the United States on trips to Japan sponsored by the American Council of Young Political Leaders. [3]
Wilma Pearl Mankiller was a Native American activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, she lived on her family's allotment in Adair County, Oklahoma, until the age of 11, when her family relocated to San Francisco as part of a federal government program to urbanize Indigenous Americans. After high school, she married a well-to-do Ecuadorian and raised two daughters. Inspired by the social and political movements of the 1960s, Mankiller became involved in the Occupation of Alcatraz and later participated in the land and compensation struggles with the Pit River Tribe. For five years in the early 1970s, she was employed as a social worker, focusing mainly on children's issues.
Chadwick "Corntassel" Smith is a Native American politician and attorney who served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was first elected in 1999. Smith was re-elected to a second term as Chief in 2003 and a third term in June 2007 with 59% of the vote. He was defeated in his attempt to get elected to a fourth term in office by Bill John Baker 54% to 46% in the 2011 election and he lost again to Baker in 2015, receiving 28% of the vote. Prior to being elected Principal Chief, he worked as a lawyer for the tribe and in private practice.
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma is a Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly 6,952,960 acres, it is the second-largest reservation in area after the Navajo, exceeding that of eight U.S. states. The seat of government is located in Durant, Oklahoma.
Jesse Bartley Milam (1884–1949) was best known as the first Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation appointed by a U.S. president since tribal government had been dissolved before Oklahoma Statehood in 1907. He was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, who reappointed him in 1942 and 1943; he was reappointed by President Harry S. Truman in 1948. He died while in office in 1949.
The Cherokee Nation, also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated, due to increasing pressure, from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokee who were forced to relocate on the Trail of Tears. The tribe also includes descendants of Cherokee Freedmen, Absentee Shawnee, and Natchez Nation. As of 2023, over 450,000 people were enrolled in the Cherokee Nation.
The Cherokee Freedmen controversy was a political and tribal dispute between the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and descendants of the Cherokee Freedmen regarding the issue of tribal membership. The controversy had resulted in several legal proceedings between the two parties from the late 20th century to August 2017.
William Wirt Hastings was an American lawyer, educator and politician who served nine terms as a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma between 1915 and 1935.
The 2010 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of Oklahoma. Due to term limits established by the Oklahoma Constitution, incumbent Democratic Governor Brad Henry could not seek re-election. The race had been hotly contested by both political parties, with several well-known Oklahomans announcing their candidacy up to two years before the election. This was the first time a woman challenged another woman for Governor of Oklahoma.
Kimberly Teehee is a Native American attorney, politician, and activist on Native American issues. She is a Delegate-designate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Cherokee Nation. She served as senior policy advisor for Native American affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2012. In February 2020, she was named by Time as one of 16 activists fighting for a "More Equal America."
Bill John Baker is a Native American politician who served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. First elected in October 2011, Baker defeated three-term incumbent Chief Chad "Corntassel" Smith. Prior to his election as Chief, Baker served 12 years on the Cherokee Tribal Council. In 1999, Baker unsuccessfully ran for Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the five U.S. representatives from the state of Oklahoma, one from each of the state's five congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections. Primary elections were held on June 26 and runoff elections were held two months later on August 28. The state’s U.S. House delegation Republican majority changed from 5-0 to 4-1. As of 2023 this is the only time since 2010 that Democrats won any house race in Oklahoma.
John Kevin Stitt is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2018, defeating Democrat and former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson with 54.3% of the vote. Stitt was reelected to a second term in 2022, defeating Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, a Republican turned Democrat, with 55.4% of the vote. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Stitt is the second Native American governor after former Oklahoma governor Johnston Murray.
The 2019 Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma principal chief election was held on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Former Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. defeated Tribal Councilman Dick Lay in the election.
Chuck Hoskin Jr. is a Cherokee Nation politician and attorney currently serving as the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation since 2019. He was re-elected to a second term in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the five U.S. representatives from the state of Oklahoma, one from each of the state's five congressional districts. The primary elections for the Republican. Democratic, and Libertarian parties' nominations took place on June 28, 2022.
The 2022 Oklahoma gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Oklahoma. Incumbent governor Kevin Stitt was re-elected to a second term, defeating Joy Hofmeister.
John Wesley "Wes" Nofire is a Cherokee Nation and American politician and a former heavyweight professional boxer who has served as the Oklahoma Native American Affairs Liaison since 2023. During his boxing career Nofire fought under the name "The Cherokee Warrior". Nofire served on the Cherokee Nation tribal council between 2019 and 2023. He was a Republican candidate in the 2022 primary election for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district and candidate in the 2023 Cherokee Nation principal chief election.
Amanda Swope is an American politician who has served as the Oklahoma House of Representatives member from the 71st district since November 16, 2022. She was the Tulsa County Democratic Party Chairwoman between 2019 and 2022, the youngest person and first Native American to hold the position. She is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation.
Mike Shambaugh is an American and Cherokee Nation politician, baseball player, and police officer who has served on the Cherokee Nation tribal councilor representing the 9th district since 2017 and as speaker of the Cherokee Nation tribal council since 2021.
Sara Elizabeth Hill is a Cherokee and American attorney who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma since 2024. She previously served as the attorney general of the Cherokee Nation from August 2019 to August 2023 and as the tribe's secretary of natural resources between October 2015 and August 2019.
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