Vivian Juan-Saunders is an American politician who became the first woman to lead the Tohono O'odham Nation of

southern Arizona Southern Arizona is a region of the United States comprising the southernmost portion of the State of Arizona. It sometimes goes by the name Gadsden or Baja Arizona, which means "Lower Arizona" in Spanish. Geography Although Southern Arizona ...

in 2003. She served as

Chairwoman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Tohono O'odham from 2003 until 2007. Juan-Saunders is from New Fields community in Chukut Kuk District of the Tohono O'odham Nation and is a former Miss Tohono O'odham Nation and later Miss Indian Arizona and in 1982 won the crown of

Miss Indian America Miss Indian America was a pageant from 1953 to 1989 that was part annual All-American Indian Days festival in Sheridan, Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western ...

in Sheridan, Wyoming. She is the former vice president of Tohono O'odham Community College, which is located in

Sells, Arizona Sells ( O'odham: Komkcʼeḍ ʼe-Wa:ʼosidk) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 2,799 at the 2000 census. It is the capital of the Tohono O'odham Nation ...

. Juan-Saunders has a Masters in American Indian Studies from the

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. In 1999, Juan-Saunders, together with running mate Ned Norris, Jr., challenged incumbent Tohono O'odham Chairman Edward D. Manuel for the chairmanship in the executive election. Manuel defeated Juan-Saunders to win a second term in office. Juan-Saunders once again challenged Manuel in 2003, in a rematch of the 1999 race. She was elected the Chairwoman of the Tohono O'odham nation in the May 24. 2003, tribal election, with Ned Norris, Jr. as her

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

. She defeated incumbent Tohono O'odham Chairman Edward D. Manuel, who had held the office since 1995, with 59% of the

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while carrying eight of the eleven electoral districts. In doing so, she became the first woman to lead the Tohono O'odham. Juan-Saunders was officially inaugurated as Chairwoman of the Tohono O'odham nation on Monday, June 3, 2003, by Tohono O'odham chief judge Betsy Norris. A larger ceremonial inauguration was later held on June 27, 2003, at Baboquivari High School in

Topawa, Arizona Topawa ( O'odham: name Ḍo Bawui translates as "Gathering Tepary Beans") is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Pima County, Arizona, United States. The population was 315 as of the 2020 census. Topawa is located on the ...

. Norris, her running mate, served as the vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham until his resignation in June 2006. Vivian Juan-Saunders was defeated for re-election in May 2007 by her former running mate, Ned Norris, Jr., who received 1,766 of the 3,105 total votes cast in the election. Juan-Saunders was defeated again in 2011 for the Chairmanship and also ran for the office in 2015. In May 2017, Juan-Saunders was elected to the Tohono O'odham Legislative Council for a four-year term representing Chukut Kuk District.

References

Chairpersons of the Tohono O'odham Women Native American leaders Women in Arizona politics 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians Living people 1960 births Native American people from Arizona 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American politicians {{Arizona-politician-stub