Vote Here
Per articles IV and V of our by-laws, Willamette Tsalagi Community is hosting our annual elections of officers to the Community Organization Board for 2026-2027.
This year, we are holding elections for the following positions: President (2 year term), Vice President (2 year term), Secretary (1 year term), and Board Members (up to 3 positions, 1 year term each). Wado to those who have self-nominated, shared information about themselves with the membership, and agreed to stand for election!
Please review the candidate information below then make your selections of preferred candidates for each position listed in the following section. Deadline to submit ballots is Friday, November 6, 2026. We will announce and welcome our new Board officers at our Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 14, 2026.
NOTE: All candidates are enrolled citizens of Cherokee Nation and all have consented to share their candidate statements publicly. Some candidates have agreed to stand for multiple open positions, so please vote only once for a given candidate for a given position, and please submit only one completed ballot per voter.
Each candidate was asked to respond to three prompts:
1) a short biography and description of skills/experience they'd bring to the Board;
2) a vision statement of priorities, aspirations, and dreams for the future;
3) a statement of things they'd like to see more of in the organization.
Candidates and their responses to these questions are listed below in alphabetical order by last name.
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Ꭷꮏꮑꮝꭹ Rei Barnes
Bio: I am an educator with more than 20 years of teaching experience across a variety of disciplines, including the arts and language education. I was born in California, raised in Saudi Arabia, and later returned to Oregon during my teens. I subsequently lived and taught English in China for four years in my twenties before returning to complete my university education, earning bachelor's degrees in Liberal Arts and Japanese, along with two certificates in East Asian Studies. I then proceeded to take up a career position in teaching general education in various language immersion international schools in Portland and Hillsborough. Throughout my life, I have remained committed to community service and cultural exchange. I have been involved in volunteer work in every community I have called home, and I continue to work with the Japanese community in Portland while teaching at various international schools. I am currently pursuing my Oregon teaching license to expand my opportunities to serve students and families throughout the state. Since joining the Willamette Tsalagi community, I have been glad to contribute as a volunteer and to become more involved in the life of our organization. I am interested in serving on the board because I believe in our community's potential and want to contribute actively to its continued growth and success. I hope to bring my educational experience, practical skills, commitment to service, and willingness to learn, to the work of strengthening our organization for the benefit of our community and future generations.
Vision: My vision for our at-large community is to build a genuinely inclusive organization where every enrolled citizen feels welcomed, respected, and heard—not just those who fit established norms. I want to move beyond performative inclusion toward meaningful conversations and action, engage our youth and people of all ages and abilities, and ensure that every generation has a voice in shaping our future. I also envision strengthening our relationships with neighboring tribes by honoring the Indigenous communities whose lands we occupy, building reciprocal partnerships, and creating opportunities to uplift one another through genuine collaboration.
Dreams/Aspirations: I would like to see more clear, direct communication; transparent processes for raising concerns and ensuring they are addressed promptly and meaningfully; and a stronger commitment to mutual respect and consideration. I have become increasingly concerned about cliquishness, unprofessional conduct, gossip, exclusion, and behaviors that marginalize or actively harm people whose identities, beliefs, or ways of being, differ from those of the dominant who currently populate our group in the majority. I would also like to see a clearer distinction between our shared cultural community and individual religious beliefs. Everyone should be free to practice their spirituality in their own way, but no one should impose their religious beliefs, or expectations, including but not limited to religious based social expectations on others in our shared spaces. We gather to learn, celebrate, and practice our Indigenous culture together, and that requires respecting the diversity within our community—including differences in religion, spirituality, culture, identity and behavior. I believe this is especially important in the Longhouse, where respectful treatment of others and adherence to the building steward's expectations which include a very clear non-discrimination policy, are essential to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for everyone.
Kirby Brown
Bio: My family names are Starr, Parris, Bell, Adair, Downing, and Tehee. My relatives are primarily from the Stilwell, Rose, Locust Grove, and Claremore areas in the old Goingsnake, Flint, Saline, and Cooweescoowee districts of Cherokee Nation. On my Cherokee side, my mother is Sharon Starr Sneed, my grandfather is Henry George Starr, and my great-grandfather and great-grandmother are Joseph Carl Starr and Margaret Elizabeth Parris, respectively. I was born in Dallas, TX to Sharon Starr and Kirby Brown, Sr. and raised in the oil fields and cotton fields of West Texas in a small community called Coahoma, population 900. My dad was a career refinery worker and my mom is a retired crop insurance agent. My three older sisters and I (I'm the baby boy) are first generation college students. They have gifted me with 6 nieces and nephews, which have in turn gifted me with 6 great nieces and great nephews. Being their uncle is one of the pure joys of my life. I have lived in Eugene/Kalapuya ilihi with my wife, Katharine, for the last 14 years, where I work as an English professor at the University of Oregon.
In terms of skills and experience, I was a founder and officer of the Central Texas Cherokee Township in Austin, TX and currently serve as the director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program at the UO. As a Willamette Tsalagi board member over the past year, I have co-coordinated and/or participated in our language group (2024-25) and our Cherokee book club (2025-present). I also helped coordinate our annual Chief's visit this past year and try as best I can to attend as many events and gatherings as my schedule allows. As secretary, I bring extensive experience recording minutes, managing membership records and attendance, coordinating organizational calendars, and facilitating both internal and external communications (if needed).
Vision/Dreams/Aspirations: Thinking of the future, I would love for us to be able to fund cultural practitioners and language/knowledge keepers in residence for weeks at a time so that our community can continue to (re)build connections to our languages, knowledges, and cultural practices. I would also love for us to be able to secure land--or enter into partnerships with land trusts--so that we could have week- or weekend-long immersive language and culture "camps" where we could sing, shake shells, and practice our ceremonies (or some of our ceremonies, such as Green Corn) as at-large citizens. I would also love for us to be able to travel back to Cherokee Nation together as a large group and make connections back in the 14-county area.
Janell Cottam
Bio: I am an architect and work for the U of O. I work in the Dean's office for the College of Arts and Sciences as their Director of Space Planning and Management. I have volunteered in many capacities throughout my adult life; cub scouts, professional groups, teaching art to children and adults, and working at building community where I live. I really enjoy the Willamette Tsa-la-gi group and would like to continue supporting this community with my time and talents as I can.
Vision: I think it would be wonderful to have a part-time paid position to help support the administrative functions of the group. I think this would help continue growing and developing our community and programs. It would provide a consistancy in a contact person and support the board and community in general.
Dreams/Aspirations: I would like to see more opportunity for everyone to volunteer and be involved. A volunteer coordinator would be a great board task.
Laura Cottam Sajbel
Bio: Our family has roots in the Vinita, Oklahoma area, and lived in Miami, Tahlequah, and in Cleora, along Grand Lake, where we grew up visiting frequently and attending stomp dances. My dad found work in Dallas in the 1960s, and I grew up there, and--after working in DC and in Los Angeles--raised my family in Austin for 27+ years. Since moving to Eugene in May 2023 with Greg's job, I have been involved with Willamette Tsalagi, attending and helping to plan many of the events. For more than two and a half years, I have served on the board, first as a general board member and then as Vice President, this most recent year. The skills I bring include public relations, writing and editing (I taught university-level writing/rhetoric and social justice courses), public speaking (from years of teaching), and some knowledge about how the Cherokee Nation and the CCO operate, after being involved for a number of years and attending the most recent CCO Conference in Okahoma. I started our newsletter in June of 2024 and have written and published that monthly til now. In addition, I have produced the newsletter for the Friends of the Eugene Public Library and served as their Marketing Chair since May of 2024, and I sew and piece quilts for Bags of Love. While the year ahead holds a number of big changes in my family--our first grandbaby and our daughter's wedding--I do feel I would be able to effectively lead Willamette Tsalagi, with the help of an experienced board and support from the group. I would like to see this organization continue to grow and to foster a sense of community among all of us.
Vision: My goal is to develop more leadership among our membership, which would make this group more sustainable and stronger long-term. Many of us have knowledge and talent to share, and I would like to see folks step up to the board, to take on key responsibilities, or to lead workshops, along with the occasional experts from CN and CCO. I would like to reach out to local indigenous groups to learn more about traditions native to this land (maybe including field trips?). As we continue to share knowledge about our Cherokee history and arts and culture, I would like to have Cherokee experts teach our group some traditions like dances and going to water...maybe on a campout.
Dreams/Aspirations: Since we have begun scheduling monthly events and meeting more regularly, especially with language practice and book clubs, I have seen a real community begin to take shape. I would like to see that continue, where we continue to form real friendships and support one another.
Pam Tinker
Bio: My Father, Jim Parks, grew up in Chelsea Oklahoma. After the war and graduating from Oklahoma State, he moved to Washington DC to attend Law School where he met my mother who grew up on a peanut farm in southern Virginia and had moved to Arlington to work for the government after her two year college degree in Tennessee. I was born and raised in Northern Virginia. I attended the Medical College of Virginia to attain a degree in Physical Therapy and I continue to practice as a part time therapist in Oregon specializing in Myofascial Release technique. My husband Bruce and I moved to Eugene in 2022 to be close to our daughter, Rebecca, who attended UO and she and her husband decided to settle in this area. Our son Robert lives in NJ near Philadelphia.
In Virginia I was one of the Founding members of the Capital City Cherokee Community and documented the creation of the satellite community as part of my Master's Degree thesis on the process of forming community among people of common heritage displaced from their traditional land who have never met before. The Master's of Interdisciplinary Studies at George Mason University had concentrations in Culture, Religion and Folklore.
In 1997 I Founded a nonprofit corporation named Mother Nurture Company. The non-profit created and operates Frog Pond Early Learning Center in Alexandria Virginia. It is a nature-based preschool and child care center. As Founder and President I continue to oversee the management of the school via Zoom, email and phone. It was the first of its type in the DC region. We steward a two acre property with a mini-farm including goats, chickens, organic gardens and a natural setting that allows children to view Nature from an Indigenous point of view. Curriculum celebrates the Seasons and explores aspects of Nature with much of the day outdoors.
Vision: I would like to offer to work as a liaison with other at large tribal communities and with the nine Federally recognized Oregon Tribal governments. I believe we could share knowledge and become a strong voting block to push for Indigenous values in caring for our lands and water and other mutual concerns.
Dreams/Aspirations: I have been impressed with the variety of programs and gatherings. I wish that my schedule had allowed me to attend more functions such as language night. I am looking forward to more interaction as I slowly step away from my responsibilities in Virginia.
Heather Woodhurst
Bio: I am a former wildlife biologist turned farmer. I enjoy learning about my past and learning about the Cherokee culture. I have held many positions in the Grange, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, First Robotics and 4-H. I also held a few positions in the FFA when I was in high school. I like to organize and help others find out new and exciting information about their heritage. I also am in charge of fliers and handouts for the Grange.
Vision: To reach more of the community with language and history resources. Also, hands on demonstrations, because doing something is always a great way to learn.
Dreams/Aspirations: More connections with the Nation, whether through use of the website and YouTube videos they present or hands on demonstrations and make them more readily available to the community. Sometimes it's hard for those of us who don't know much about their heritage to know what trusted sources of information we should use or what importance some ideas or items have.