Four years ago, Gwendena Lee-Gatewood campaigned for and won the position of Chairwoman for the White Mountain Apache Tribe. After working 12 years as executive assistant for Chairman Lupe, she gathered the strength and courage to turn the tables and become the first woman to occupy the highest seat on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Under Lupe’s guidance and endorsement, she undertook this historical challenge to not only implement her vision for the Tribe, but to carry on the work Chairman Lupe had started.

Chairwoman Lee-Gatewood grew up in Show Low, Arizona. Her parents moved there in the 1940s where they married and had 11 children, Gwendena being the youngest. Three of her siblings have passed away now, including a sister who died this year, formerly the Tribe’s family history officer and Council Woman. “I was very close to her. I would go to her for guidance and council. She was the closest thing I had to a mom.” It taught her to value people and the time you spend with them, now. “Time keeps moving forward and you do your best to make adjustments. Then you apply what those people taught you, then their legacy continues through you.”

Before Chairman Lupe retired, he told her that he wanted her to run for office. He also told her that leadership is not something that comes overnight. “It takes grooming and effort, it takes sweat on the brow to accomplish your goals and objectives.” Additionally, he also said that during the campaign you will have burdens and you will have blessings. You will meet people that won’t support you, some that will and then some that may not be sure. As a leader, he iterated the importance that she keep working to help the people. “Many will expect things to change overnight, but they can’t, but if you keep people informed, even if it’s bad news, they’ll appreciate it." 

The Chairwoman told me, “He had a good perspective. He was very wise.” He told her, “I want to hand over the keys of this leadership to you. The leader of the White Mountain Apaches encompasses all of the goals and dreams of prior chiefs and prior leaders, people that are no longer here. You take that and broaden our horizons.”  

Then she thought to herself, “We can’t limit ourselves. We have limitless possibilities to do good things for our people, he is a good mentor, a good father figure, and a great leader.” She had the opportunity to learn from this man that had been a leader for more than 50 years and when he wasn’t Chairman, he served on the Council. He gave his life to serve his people, sacrificing time with his own family, however the Tribe I am told was his family.

During her time in office, The Chairwoman took on the challenges of a pandemic that swept through her Reservation. Difficult decisions had to be made to protect her people, most of which lived in multi-generation homes. They started a contact tracing program that helped save lives. It was so impressive that it was written about in Times Magazine. However, positive cases and some deaths within the Tribe forced lock down situations that weren’t too popular. The Chairwoman claims that “We are all here and we need to make the best of it. We need to learn new things like how to cook a meal, change a flat tire, or balance a checkbook. Turn your cabin fever into something that you will never forget, like asking Grandma to tell a story or learn how to say things in Apache, then write it down or video it!”

There are some goals that Chairwoman wants to accomplish. Some handed down to her from Chairman Lupe and some that are part of her vision for the Tribe. Chairman Lupe was a lifetime advocate for water rights, something Chairwoman Lee-Gatewood would like to see fulfilled. “He took this fight all the way to Washington D.C. and we all want it to be fulfilled. We are still working on having our Miner Flat Dam.”

Chairman Lupe was the first to help bring KNND radio station to the Reservation. Chairwoman Lee-Gatewood pushed it into the modern world and put it on the internet so that even an Apache serving in the military on the other side of the world could listen in. Now she is working on getting broadband for the entire reservation. Without a good broadband, something that was experienced during the pandemic, a multi-generational home will struggle with school and work-related tasks. For example, when students try homeschooling or take online exams while parent use the same internet to work from home it can be recipe for chaos.

Chairwoman Lee-Gatewood is also the school-board president of Theodore Roosevelt School, which just received a 3-million-dollar grant for fiber optic broadband service. “This will help us branch out and move forward so that, at some point, every home on the reservation will have broadband.” She states.

Chairwoman Lee-Gatewood believes that we are all a work in progress. She affirms, “Rome wasn’t built in a day. I think it’s that way for a reason, so that we can appreciate what we already have, feel blessed with what we do have.” She states that every one of us has a special talent or ability to help others. “Once we realize what it is, then we help them out of the goodness of our hearts and the Creator knows our hearts.” She tells me that it all reverts back to how children are raised. “You are a product of your parents and grandparents. There is a lot of humble pride that you can hang your hat on!” Finally, she insists that each person is unique. “As a Tribe, each one has their own history and their own bloodlines that come from a rich history. A heritage so unique that you won’t find it anywhere else in the world!” That’s what she wanst the children to know. That they come from a strong and prayerful people that never wavered in faith and prayer no matter what circumstances came to them.

Her Christmas wish for all is that we continue to focus and rededicate our lives to the purpose of Christmas and really apply it in our lives. That the walls of the peoples’ homes be filled with love and compassion and understanding. “Teach your children these things because nothing will compensate for that. To the Apaches, she iterates, “We are Apache for a reason. We are humble and very strong in prayer and faith. Family is always central in the Apache way. It’s always been that way. We have ties. The mountains that surround us have seen many things come and go, but we take it with reverent respect and we keep moving forward. We can’t slack our pace, we have to stay present with the changing times. But that doesn’t mean you change who you are in your heart. You adjust and you will come out a better person. The sun will always rise no matter what and a rainbow will come after the rain and everything will be okay.”

“Our beautiful Apache lands carry sad times as well as happiness. When visitors bring their families to Sunrise, Hon-Dah or rafting down the Salt River, they are among the history of our people. I hope that each visitor will take that with them and go back to their home and learn more about our people.” They do the same wherever they go Chairwoman tells me. “I think as long as we do that we learn about one another.”