Shelly Crow

Crow worked for the Indian Health Service, as a public health nurse for the Cherokee Nation at Hastings Indian Hospital in Tahlequah and returned to school in 1985.[2][10] She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Northeastern State University in 1987,[4][10] and was appointed to President Ronald Reagan's first Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic.[11][12][13] Continuing her education, she earned a Master of Science in public health with a specialty in clinical nursing from the University of Oklahoma in 1989.[4][10] That year, she was honored by the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center with the American Indian Academic Achievement Award, began serving on the Muscogee Nation Hospital and Clinics Board,[10] and started teaching nursing at Langston University.[7][14]

In 1990, Crow was elected as president of the Tulsa Indian Committee of the Muscogee Nation.[15] She also became chair of the Muscogee Nation Hospital and Clinics Board. The board was tasked with investigating alleged mismanagement at facilities serving the Muscogee nation and working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to secure adequate funds for implementing child welfare and family service programs.[16] Although she was criticized, under her tenure, both the Indian Health Service and Muscogee National Council recognized the board as the official governing body of the Muscogee health system. She also established a behavioral science department within the health system and hired physicians and staff to serve the clinics and put the health service on sound financial footing.[5] Concerned about the HIV/AIDs epidemic among Native Americans, she organized a conference in 1990 to discuss tribal policy development and preventative education programs which could be implemented with culturally appropriate treatment plans.[17] From 1991, she taught nursing at the University of Tulsa.[5]

In 1970, the Muscogee Nation was granted the right to self-determination,[3] and in 1971, Claude Cox was elected as the first Principal Chief since the tribe was reorganized.[3][18] Crow announced her candidacy for the tribal election held in 1991, the first time Cox was not running for re-election. She ran against three men,[18] and was elected as the first woman to serve on the tribal government's executive branch,[3] and the fourth second chief (vice president) to serve the nation.[4] She was the second chief from 1992 until 1996 serving in the administration of Principal Chief Bill Fife.[3]

Crow was appointed by Governor David Boren in 1992, to serve a three-year term on the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission,[19] and acted as chair for the first two years of her term.[20] That year, she also assisted in finalizing the HIV/AIDS tribal educational program, which launched in September.[21] She served on the Health Care Task Force established by Hillary Clinton in 1993.[4] Crow had met Clinton at an event in Tulsa in 1992 and when she heard about the task force, wrote a letter to the First Lady outlining the special concerns for Native health. The letter prompted her appointment as the only member from Oklahoma to work on the initiative to create a national health program.[22] The appointment caused a petition of intent to be filed for her removal as second chief, alleging she would not have sufficient time to fulfill her duties to the tribe. The petition did not gain sufficient signatures (2,500) to move forward to a vote by the Muscogee National Council.[23][24] Other petitions to remove both Crow and Fife were filed in July 1993 and March 1994, but they also failed to gain adequate support.[24] Crow was one of the speakers at the White House Conference on Aging and Nutrition held in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1994.[25]

Crow unsuccessfully challenged to be the principal chief in the 1995 tribal elections.[3] After leaving office, Crow served as a policy analyst for the Muscogee Nation Division of Health Administration from 1996 to 2000, and returned to teaching at both Langston and the University of Tulsa.[12][26] Simultaneously, she was appointed in 1998 to a term on the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health.[27] The eighteen-member board advised the United States' Congress and President on health care issues for rural communities.[11] Crow's term on the advisory committee extended through 2002.[27] She unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Muscogee National Council in 2001.[12][28] That year she was recognized by Tulsa Community College as the third recipient of the Best of TCC Award for her service and professionalism in health care for the Muscogee Nation. In 2001, she also became a health care consultant to the Dustin Public Schools.[11] Crow was honored by Chief A. D. Ellis in 2008, for her service to the tribe.[29]