CANDIDATES FOR THE PEORIA TRIBE BUSINESS COMMITTEE

Greetings, fellow Tribal citizens!

My name is Tonya (Stand) Mathews and I am running for a third term as Secretary of the Business Committee. It has been an honor to serve our citizens in this capacity for the last 8 years and I pray that I am able to continue to serve you for many years to come.

A little about me:

I grew up in Quapaw, OK but have lived in Miami, OK for the past 20 years. I have two children that are my absolute pride and joy. My daughter, Meika, is 22, and my son, Rhett, is 15. You can find both of them serving our people at our Tribal events. They take pride in our Tribe and look forward to being involved as much as possible.

I began officially serving our Tribe at the age of 20 when I was first appointed to the Election Committee. I served on the Election Committee for 10 years, where I was Chairman for 9 of those 10 years. I resigned from that position in 2014 - in order to serve as Secretary of the Business Committee. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to meet & know so many of you! I have truly learned so much, but I know there is still so much more to learn. Before my service to the Election Committee, you could find me and my family serving our Tribe at Tribal events, stomp dances, and pow-wows. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in our Native community and to be able to be involved in and continue to carry on traditions that are so dear to me. Beyond serving our Tribe, I have also been blessed to be employed by our Tribe for more than 18 years. I originally began my employment with our Tribe as a summer youth intern from 1998-2002. After college, I returned to work for our Tribe in August 2004 as the Administrative Assistant to the Environmental Director. In 2006, I transferred to the Gaming Commission Department – beginning as the Employee Licensing Agent. In 2007, I was promoted to the role of Vendor Compliance Agent. In 2008, I was promoted to the role of Internal Auditor. In January 2013, I was promoted into my current role as the Executive Director - a position that I take great pride in!

Regarding my role as Secretary of the Business Committee, I believe in keeping an open mind and an open heart when any issue is brought to us because I know that no two situations are the same nor should they be treated that way. I took an Oath to uphold the Constitution of our Tribe and to protect our tribal citizens, which is not a task that I have taken lightly. In every decision I have made, I have put our citizens first and I will continue to do so. I promise to remain devoted to the needs of our Tribal citizens. My years in Tribal Government and the great relationships I have formed with other Tribal Nations have allowed me the opportunity to have many resources available. Please reach out to me to see how I can help you.

If you don’t know me or just want to know more about me, I invite you to do so. My contact information is available on the Tribal website. My door is always open, and my phone is always on.

I believe it to be a privilege to serve our people and I am so grateful to do so. Therefore, I humbly ask for your vote as Secretary of the Business Committee in our upcoming election on March 4th, 2023.

Thank you,

Tonya R. Mathews

Tonya R. Mathews #peoriapride #peoriaproud