Eastern Shawnee Tribe Elects Chris Samples as New Chief
Chris Samples Elected Eastern Shawnee Tribe Chief as Glenna Wallace Retires After 20 Years
Chris Samples has been elected chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, beginning a new era of leadership as longtime Chief Glenna Wallace prepares to retire after two decades in office.
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe new chief received 75% of the vote in the tribal election, defeating former Business Committee member Shawn Daugherty. Samples most recently served as the tribe's Second Chief and will serve a four-year term after taking the oath of office on September 23.
Wallace's retirement closes a historic tenure that began in 2006, when she became the first woman elected chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe in its modern history.
Eastern Shawnee Tribe New Chief Chris Samples Brings Tribal Leadership Experience
Samples enters the chief's office with experience inside the Eastern Shawnee government and a focus on strengthening the tribe's financial position while maintaining its cultural identity.
As Second Chief, Samples served on the Eastern Shawnee Business Committee, the tribe's legislative branch. The committee is responsible for strategic planning, economic development and oversight of tribal business enterprises.
The Eastern Shawnee Tribe's Business Committee lists Samples as Second Chief for a term that began in September 2025. His election to the chief's position will now create another leadership transition because the tribe must hold a special election to fill the remainder of his Second Chief term.
In a letter to tribal citizens published in the tribe's Shooting Star newsletter, Samples described himself as a family man of faith who participates in traditional Shawnee practices. His campaign emphasized collaboration, cultural priorities and financial diversification.
Samples said the tribe has substantially increased its physical assets and that he wants the next phase of financial planning to include building greater liquidity and cash reserves. He has also identified programs serving elders and children among his priorities.
Samples is scheduled to be sworn in September 23, formally beginning his four-year term.
Glenna Wallace Retires After Historic 20 Years as Eastern Shawnee Chief
Wallace leaves office after one of the longest modern leadership tenures in the tribe's history.
She was elected chief in 2006 after previously spending 18 years on the Eastern Shawnee Business Committee. Before entering full-time tribal leadership, Wallace worked for more than 38 years at Crowder College in Missouri, serving in positions that included instructor, department chair, division chair and interim academic dean.
The tribe's official biography of Chief Glenna Wallace credits her leadership with an emphasis on education, historic preservation, cultural awareness and economic security.
Her tenure also included major efforts to reconnect Eastern Shawnee citizens in Oklahoma with the tribe's ancestral homeland in Ohio.
Wallace became a prominent advocate for recognizing the historical and cultural importance of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a collection of ancient Indigenous earthworks in Ohio that was ultimately inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023.
Her work in Ohio became closely connected to what Wallace described as the Seventh Generation, reflecting a Shawnee tradition that a future generation would return to the tribe's ancestral homeland. The Ohio History Connection's account of Wallace's Seventh Generation work traces that effort back to her first days as chief in 2006.
Wallace's final years in office also included continued tribal development in northeast Oklahoma, including the opening of a new Eastern Shawnee government building in June 2025.
Eastern Shawnee Leadership Transition Looks Toward Oklahoma and Ohio
Samples has indicated that continuing the tribe's connection with Ohio will remain part of his administration.
He credited Wallace with building relationships with public and state organizations there and said he believes those connections could eventually create additional opportunities for the Eastern Shawnee Tribe.
At home in northeast Oklahoma, the incoming administration will also oversee a tribal government with significant responsibilities in economic development, cultural preservation and services for tribal citizens.
The leadership transition will not end with Samples taking office.
Because he is moving from Second Chief to Chief, the tribe's constitution requires a special election within 60 days to fill the vacant Second Chief position for the remainder of the term.
Wallace, meanwhile, leaves a record spanning nearly four decades of Eastern Shawnee tribal government when her 18 years on the Business Committee are combined with her 20 years as chief.
For the Eastern Shawnee Tribe new chief, the transition represents both continuity and change. Samples inherits a government expanded during Wallace's two decades in office while outlining his own priorities around culture, collaboration, financial strength and programs for future generations.
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