Inductees S-U

Retired Army Col. Eugene "Gene" Thompson was born in Oklahoma City to Thomas and Thelma Thompson. He is the grandson to fellow 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Thomas Benjamin Thompson, Sr., and nephew to 1990 inductee Te Ata Thompson Fisher.

Thomas Benjamin Thompson, Sr. was born on May 20, 1865, in Emet, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. He was born to Thomas Jefferson Thompson and Millenium “Lena” Bynum.

Charles Guy Tate was born on February 9, 1940, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, to Ernest W. Tate and Juanita J. Keel Tate. Charles is a descendant of Edmund Pickens, first elected Chickasaw chief in Indian Territory, and Cyrus Harris, the first elected Chickasaw governor.

Towana Spivey is the descendent of several generations of Chickasaws who came to Indian Territory in 1837 from northern Mississippi. He was born in Madill, Oklahoma, and still lives on the original 140-acre Chickasaw allotment of his grandparents Henry “Buck” Russell and Gladys Rogers.

Chief Tishu Miko (now written as Tishomingo) was born about 1735 in Mississippi and has come to be remembered as one of the last great chiefs of the Chickasaws. Tishomingo, meaning "King's Assistant" or "Servant King," served as a valued counselor to such notable Chickasaw leaders as Piomingo, Itawamba and Ishtehotopa.

Eula Pearl Carter Scott was born on December 9, 1915 in Marlow, Oklahoma to father, George, and mother, Lucy, who was an original enrollee of the Chickasaw Nation. Pearl's colorful life took her from Marlow to the Hall of Fame.

Recently honored for his 45 years of service to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. Speaks' career has included serving as a teacher, supervisor, manager, agency superintendent, area director and most recently as the director of the BIA Northwest Regional Office in Oregon.

Robert R. Stephens served on the original steering committee which wrote the by-laws of the Chickasaw Nation in 1978.

David R. Stout is a former chairman of the tribal legislature who is still respected for his work on behalf of the Chickasaw people.

Clayburn Straughn was born in 1923 and grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Clayburn’s mother, Frances Carlton Straughn, was an original Chickasaw enrollee and his great-grandfather came from the Old Chickasaw Nation during the Great Removal of 1837. Clayburn was also a direct descendant of Governor William Guy, who was Chickasaw governor from 1886-1888. Like millions of Americans during the 1930s, Clayburn’s family managed to get by during a time of great financial hardship. The Straughn family home was located in Wilson, Oklahoma—a tiny community just west of Ardmore. As The Grapes of Wrath taught us, the depression affected everyone’s way of life, but it was especially hard in small-town Oklahoma “dust bowls.”

Born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on September 10, 1910, to Guy Keel, Chickasaw Roll No. 1866, and Lula Potts Keel, Chickasaw Roll No. 1867, Juanita was the 10th of 12 children. At birth, her father gave her the Chickasaw name of “Foshi,” which she always cherished. She was a great-great grandchild of Cyrus Harris, the first Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, and a great-grandchild of Edmund Pickens, first elected Chief of the Chickasaw Nation.

Gene Underwood was born on April 5, 1934, near Tishomingo, Oklahoma, to parents Joe and Mary Underwood. After graduating from Russett High School, he went on to attend Haskell Institute in Lawrence, KS.