Phyliss J. Anderson is the first female elected Chief of the

Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians ( cho, Mississippi Chahta) is one of three federally recognized tribes of Choctaw Native Americans, and the only one in the state of Mississippi. On April 20, 1945, this tribe organized under the Indian Re ...

. She succeeded the incumbent

Miko A , or shrine maiden,Groemer, 28. is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. were once likely seen as shamans,Picken, 140. but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform ...

Beasley Denson Beasley Denson served as Miko or Tribal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians from 2007 to 2011. He is the third person to be elected as Tribal Chief since the tribe adopted its modern constitution. Beasley Denson defeated 28-year incu ...

after the election committee concluded ballot count on July 6, 2011. Anderson polled 1,971 votes to defeat Beasley Denson who polled 1,618.Anderson pulls upset for Chief - The Neshoba Democrat - Philadelphia, Mississippi
/ref> Phyliss Anderson was sworn in as

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

on July 12, 2011. She is the fourth elected tribal chief of the

subsequent to the tribal government's re-establishment of 1945. She assumed office at a time when the tribe's most lucrative businesses had come under scrutiny, including an FBI raid on Pearl River Resort and Casino in July 2011, saying financial stability would be her top goal, and pledging to ”not tolerate intimidation, use of fear tactics, and/or threats of jobs." Anderson is a graduate of Choctaw Central High School and

East Central Community College East Central Community College (ECCC) is a junior college located in Decatur, Mississippi. ECCC serves a five-county district: Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Scott and Winston counties. It opened in September 1928. Band The Band's name is the Wall ...

. She was a Choctaw

Indian Princess The Indian princess is usually a Stereotypes of indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States, stereotypical and inaccurate representation of a Native Americans in the United States, Native American or other Indigenous peoples of the America ...

prior to becoming the chief. In December 2011, she was selected to introduce President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

at the 3rd Annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. Acting as Tribal Chief and Chairman of Choctaw Resort Development Enterprise, in February 2012, Anderson signed a 78 million dollar loan package with Trustmark to refinance the Mississippi Choctaw's Pearl River Resort in

Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...

and the Bok Homa Casino in Jones County." In October 2012, a portrait of Chief Anderson was unveiled at the

Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...

References

External links

choctaw.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Phyliss J. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Chiefs of the Choctaw Mississippi Band Choctaw people Women Native American leaders People from Neshoba County, Mississippi East Central Community College alumni 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American politicians 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans