Panelists for the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act Hearing in Rapid City, South Dakota on September 9, 2005 Craig Dillon Councilman, Ogalala Sioux Tribal Council, LaCreek District, South Dakota In 2002, Craig Dillon helped organize the LaCreek District Civil Rights Committee, a movement that registered thousands of Indian voters and one that has since emerged as a major factor in state and national elections. Prior to his voting rights work, Mr. Dillon worked as a Tribal Officer and Deputy Sheriff for 15 years and later served in the South Dakota Social Services and Economic Assistance office for 6 years. In 1999, Mr. Dillon was elected to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, the position he currently holds. Adele Enright County Auditor, Dewey County, South Dakota Since 1987, Ms. Enright has served as the Dewey County Auditor of which some of her duties include maintaining voter registration records and conducting elections. Over the years, she has been a strong advocate of Native American Indian voting rights-- working to ensure that translators are available at polling places in the Cheyenne River Reservation and that the recruitment of Native American poll workers is increased. Richard A. Guest Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund Richard A. Guest is currently as Staff Attorney in the Native American Rights Fund’s (NARF) Washington D.C. office. Prior to joining NARF, Mr. Guest was a Senior Associate with Troutman Sanders LLP in their Indian law practice, focusing on environmental issues, energy projects, economic development, financial institutions and telecommunications services in Indian country. Previously, he served as the on-reservation tribal attorney for the Skokomish Indian Tribe and worked as an associate attorney for Morisset, Schlosser, Jozwiak and McGaw, located in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Guest has represented Indian tribes on a broad range of issues in federal, state and tribal forums. He has provided legal counsel to tribal leaders and administrative staff in government-to-government proceedings, including co-management of fish, timber and wildlife, as well as the development of intergovernmental agreements on jurisdiction over natural resources, law enforcement, taxation and social services. Dan McCool Director, American West Center, University of Utah Dan McCool is currently a professor of Political Science at the University of Utah and serves as the Director of the American West Center and the Environmental Studies program at the University of Utah. Mr. McCool’s research focuses on Indian voting rights, Indian water rights, water resource development, and public lands policy. He has appeared as an expert witness in several Indian voting rights cases and has written and published extensively on the subject. Mr. McCool is the co-author of a book manuscript, currently under contract, titled I’m Indian and I Vote: American Indians, The Voting Rights Act, and the Right to Vote. His additional body of published work includes: Native Waters: Contemporary Indian Water Settlements and the Second Treaty Era (2002); Command of the Waters: Iron Triangles, Federal Water Development, and Indian Water (1994); Staking Out the Terrain: Power and Performance Among Natural Resource Agencies (1996, 2nd ed); and Public Policy Theories, Models and Concepts (1995). Mr. McCool received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1983. Janine Pease (Invited) Vice President for American Indian Affairs, Rocky Mountain College, Montana Throughout her career, Dr. Pease has been a committed advocate of American Indian voting rights. She was the lead plaintiff in the historic and precedent setting voting rights litigation, Windy Boy v. Big Horn County. The ruling ordered the redesign of school board and county commissioner districts and the implementation of Indian majority districts based on population. Currently, Dr. Pease serves as Vice President for the Division of American Indian Affairs at Rocky Mountain College. Immediately prior to joining Rocky Mountain College, she owned her own consulting firm, specializing in tribal colleges and universities program development and strategic planning. Earlier, Dr. Pease served as president of Little Big Horn College (LBHC) from 1982 to 2000. Under her leadership, LBHC founded a two-year college curriculum around the Crow Indian language, culture and knowledge. In 1999, the Montana Supreme Court unanimously appointed Dr. Pease to a four-year term as Presiding Officer of the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission. In this role, Dr. Pease provided leadership to the redistricting of the Montana legislative districts. From 1983 - 1988, Dr. Pease served as chairman of the Big Horn County Democratic Central Committee, and was elected Lodge Grass Precinct #9 Democratic Committee woman for eight years. The National Indian Education Association honored Dr. Pease in 1990, with the coveted National Indian Educator of the Year award. In 1994, she received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. President Clinton later appointed Dr. Pease to the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities Advisory Council in 1996 and to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education in 1994. U.S. Secretary of Education Cavazos appointed her to the Indian Nations At-Risk Task Force from 1989 to 1991. An enrolled member of the Crow Tribe, Dr. Pease is from the Valley of the Chiefs --- Lodge Grass District. She is a member of the Big Lodge/New Lodge Clan and of the Nighthawks Dance Society. Dr. Pease is also part Hidatsa Indian. Dr. Pease earned two bachelor’s degrees in sociology and anthropology from Central Washington University (Ellensburg). Later in 1994, she completed her doctoral degree in higher education at Montana State University (Bozeman). Raymond Uses The Knife Tribal Vice Chairman, Cheyenne River Sioux Nation, South Dakota Currently serving his fourth term on the Tribal Council, Ray has been selected by his colleagues to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation in South Dakota. He serves on the Claims & Legislation, Economic Development, Environment & Natural Resources, Health, and Wolakota committees. In addition, Ray also serves on the Voting Rights Commission. Bryan Sells (Click here to view Testimony) Staff Attorney, Voting Rights Project, ACLU Mr. Sells is currently a staff counsel for the Voting Rights Project of the ACLU and specializes in Native American voting rights and ballot-access litigation. In his five years with the ACLU, he has represented tribal members in more than half a dozen notable cases in South Dakota, including Quiver v. Nelson, the largest voting rights lawsuit in history. Mr. Sells received his undergraduate degree from Harvard and law degree from the Columbia School of Law. O.J. Semans Member, Rosebud Sioux Nation, South Dakota Mr. Semans, a member of the Sioux Nation who lives on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, is a field director for Four Directions, a nonprofit group focused on Indian voter registration and rights. A committed activist for Native American Indian voter’s rights since 1994, Mr. Semans has testified extensively before the South Dakota State Senate Committees on proposed laws that would adversely affect the voting rights of Native American Indians. Mr. Semans has continuously worked on increasing voter turnout throughout the State of South Dakota and contributed to the 117 percent increase in voter participation of Native American Indians during the 2004 elections. Hon. Theresa Two Bulls State Senator, South Dakota In a Legislature where both women and American Indians are in the minority, Theresa Two Bulls, one of the four Indian lawmakers in the entire Legislature, stands out as the first Indian woman to serve as a state lawmaker in South Dakota. Ms. Two Bulls is a member of the Ogala Sioux Tribe. After serving as tribal secretary from 1990-1998 and vice president from 2000-2002, Two Bulls took a sabbatical from her post as tribal prosecutor to serve in the Senate. She represents the Pine Ridge Reservation and currently serves on the Health and Human Services and Local Government committees. Theresa Back to main page