By Sandra Knispel
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-985150.mp3
Oxford, MS – Phyliss J. Anderson will be the first female chief to head up the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, ousting the sitting Miko Beasley Denson with a sizable lead.
No question, Phyliss Anderson's victory is historic. But she's by no means the first woman ever to lead an Indian tribe.
"There are many, many famous examples of principal chiefs of contemporary nations," Annette Trefzer, an associate professor of English at the University of Mississippi, studies cultures and literatures of Native Americans, says. "First, I'm thinking of Wilma Mankiller who was the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation who was elected in 1985."
"Phyliss Anderson will join a line of very powerful and influential women chiefs of nations," Trefzer explains.
It's been a bruising battle to get here, with three elections in just three months. But the 50-year old won't have much time to celebrate.
Pressing matters need to be dealt with. For starters there's the FBI raid on the tribe's Philadelphia casino in July, which is an ongoing investigation.
"I'm not sure what is going on. The FBI did come in. And the only information that I did get there was about 40 FBI agents at our casino," Anderson said. "I'm not sure what they're looking for. From what I have heard it has ties with Mercury Gaming, the Atlanta-based agencies, and Titan agency."
Next, Moody's Investors Service downgraded $200 million in securities borrowed by the Choctaw Resort Development Enterprise to junk bond status. Then, like dominoes falling, Price Waterhouse Coopers stepped down as outside auditor for the Choctaw casinos.
"When I talk about the financial mess, I'm talking about how this started," Anderson explains. "You know we had over $65 million in cash at the resort level. Today, we have about $30 [million] on an average."
According to the new chief the tribe's financial situation is dire.
"And although I realize that we have paid down some debt [it's] not at the level that has been reported. Because we still have a lot of debt," Anderson says.
Of course, at a time when many Mississippi Choctaw still barely live above poverty level, and some services and programs have already been cut back, the salaries of the tribe's decision-makers have raised more than a few eyebrows. When you consider that the Mississippi governor makes $122,000 dollars annually - compared with the Chief's salary of $466,000 - nearly four times as much. Anderson concedes it's time to tighten the belt.
"Well, apparently with our revenues being down as it is, I know that there are going to be some cuts. I can't specifically say how much the cuts will be but we are looking into cutting salaries, because I don't want to cut programs," Anderson says. "That's one thing I don't want to do."
Anderson's career trajectory has been steep. The chief, like many other Choctaw, grew up poor, raised by a single mom.
"I lived in a two-bedroom frame house and there was seven girls. We had no running water in the house. We had no electricity. There were times when we did not have much to eat," Anderson explains.
The married mother of three biological and four stepchildren, and now a grandmother, has been a public servant to the Choctaw tribe for more than a quarter century. Now she needs to start healing the rift that the bruising battle for leadership has caused among tribal members.
"What you say to them has to be the truth, good or bad. If we tell them the state of the tribe that they know what's happening within our tribe [then] it will be more easy for them to accept what is going on. Trust and transparency are the one, two things that's gonna bring a unified group," Anderson says.
One thing is certain, Chief Anderson will need more than budget cutting skills and integrity to get the Choctaw finances back on solid footing. Without that, the distinct Choctaw way of life and its rich culture will become much harder to protect.