Business Committee

Lori Gooday Ware

Chairwoman

Pamela Eagleshield

Vice-Chairman

James Dempsey

Secretary-Treasurer

Jeanette Mann

Committee Member

Jennifer Heminokeky

Committee Member

Dolly Loretta Buckner

Committee Member

Lori Gooday Ware

Chairwoman

Lori Gooday Ware is a descendant of Chief Mangas Colorados and Chief Loco of the Mimbreno and Warm Springs Apache Tribes.
  •  Parents are Lupe and Ramona Gooday, Sr.
 Positions held within the Fort Sill Apache Tribe
  • Chairwoman since November 20, 2018 to Present.
  • Vice-Chairwoman from October 2005 to November 2018.
  • Secretary-Treasurer of the Business Committee for a total of thirteen (13) years between 1989 and 2002.
  • Housing Commissioner from 1997-2003.
  • Started working for the Tribe in 1988 as the Secretary/Bookkeeper for the Youth Shelter then change title several times until 1992 then became the Administration on Aging Director until 2000.
  • Human Resources Manager at the Fort Sill Apache Casino also known now as the Apache Casino Hotel from 2000-2007.
  • Human Resources Manager at Gold River Casino in Anadarko, Oklahoma from 2007 to 2011.
  • Cultural Coordinator from October 2014 until January 2020.
  • Board Member and Vice-Chairwoman for the Southwest Inter-Tribal Health Board since 2014 to Present.
Attended the University of Oklahoma for one year and then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Indian Studies from the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma. I’ve been blessed to still have my mother, Ramona.  I have one handsome son, Wilson Ware, Jr. who has blessed me with a beautiful granddaughter, Gwenyth Angelina Marie.  One sister, Charlotte, who has one wonderful son, Ryan with four beautiful granddaughters; Mariah, Shyan, Zoey and Kehlani Rain.  My father, Lupe Sr and brother, Lupe Jr. left our family in 2014 to be our heavenly angels.  Activities include:  Spending time with family and friends, working on Cultural regalia and creating jewelry, watching OU football and meeting interesting people along the way being Chairwoman of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe.  

Pamela Eagleshield

Vice-Chairman

Vice Chairwoman Eagleshield is the daughter of Richard Mangas Eagleshield and granddaughter of Etheline Haozous, one of the prisoners of war at Fort Sill as a child. The name Eagleshield is from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, was given to her by her grandmother Etheline’s first husband Wallace Eagleshield.  She is a descendant of Chief Sitting Bull on her grandfather’s side.

She was sent to a government boarding school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma at age 14, and became the first female Vice Chairwoman of the Oklahoma Indian Youth Senate at 16.  She attended Law School and become an attorney for the tribe.

Ms. Eagleshield moved to Apache in 1994, was elected Tribal Secretary in 1995, and then Vice Chairwoman in 1995.  She served through the transition from the leadership of Mildred Cleghorn to the leadership of Ruey Darrow.

She has worked in many capacities for the tribe and elsewhere over the past 20 years, including 11 years as the Vice Chairwoman of the Election Board.

She is currently employed with the tribe as the Community Health Representative Coordinator and was elected the Vice Chairwoman in December of 2020.

James Dempsey

Secretary-Treasurer

James Dempsey has served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe’s Business Committee from 2020 to present. He is the son of Tribal Member, Ruby Dempsey and the great-great-grandson of Sam and Blossom Haozous. James served on the Election Committee from 2016 to 2020, as the Election Board Marshall, where he was part of the team who implemented many changes within the election board including the recent ordinance revision approved in 2021. James has been employed at the Apache Casino Hotel since 2012. He began his career as a game technician repairing slot machines. After a four-month hiatus from the casino industry in 2014, he returned to the casino, eventually working his way to a lead technician in 2016. James now manages the slot department of Apache Casino Hotel. James’s dedication and commitment to the Apache Casino Hotel is well known amongst his colleagues and gaming industry associates.

Jeanette Mann

Committee Member

Jeanette Mann (“Jeannie”) has worked for the Fort Sill Apache Tribe for nearly 25 years, starting in 1995 as a part-time attendant with the Fort Sill Apache Youth Shelter, then in tribal administration in the enrollment/childcare department, and now as Executive Director for the Fort Sill Apache Tribe Jeannie has served on the Fort Sill Apache Tribe Business Committee for 13 years and currently holds the Business Committee #1 seat.  She continues to be very active within the Tribe and is also the Secretary for the Fort Sill Apache Housing Authority Board. Jeannie and her husband, Ricky, have two children, Stephanie Whiteshield and Steven Mann and 2 grandchildren, Blake Whiteshield and Hazel Whiteshield.  She is the granddaughter of Garnett Mithlo and the great granddaughter of the Lawrence and Dolly Mithlo.

Jennifer Heminokeky

Committee Member

Dolly Loretta Buckner

Committee Member

Dolly Loretta Buckner (“Loretta”) attended Apache Schools and Cameron University and worked for the Fort Sill Apache Youth Shelter for 23 years, before retiring in 2015. Loretta has served on the Fort Sill Apache Tribe Business Committee since 1982. She currently holds the Business Committee #3 seat.  Through her years on the Business Committee she has had the honor of being on the committee with the late Mildred Cleghorn, the late Ruey H. Darrow, Jeff Haozous and the current Chairwoman Lori Gooday Ware. Loretta and her husband, Robert Buckner, have been married 47 years.  They have 3 children, James, Steven, and Hilary Buckner and have 8 grandchildren. She is the daughter of Garnett Mithlo and Author Comanche and the granddaughter of Lawrence and Dolly Mithlo.