Was first woman elected District Attorney for Pittsburg and Haskell Counties
Kalyn Free's dream is to see a Native American woman in Congress, an Indian governor, and ultimately an Indigenous president.
Named one of the Top Fifty Women in Oklahoma
Was Founder and President, Indigenous Democratic Network
Attorney and member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Kalyn Free founded and was president of the Indigenous Democratic Network, known throughout Indian Country as INDN's List, the only political organization that recruited, trained and funded American Indian candidates and staff and mobilized the Indian vote throughout America. It was the only political organization that recruited, trained, and funded American Indian candidates and staff and mobilized the Indian vote throughout America.
With the help of INDN's List, 45 tribal members were elected (and re-elected) and serve (or have served) in state and local offices across the United States. Kalyn Free states that she is most proud to have helped elect the first Indian woman to the Washington State Senate and to statewide office in Montana.
Herself politically active, Kalyn Free ran for the United States Congress in 2004 with the support and endorsement of 117 Indian tribes, AFL-CIO, Sierra Club, 21st century Democrats, and Democracy for America. She also served as a Super Delegate on the Democratic National Committee (2005-2009).
While INDN's list was a functioning entity, Free devoted her time and energy to the organization and the INDN's List Education Fund. But in spite of all its successes, the Indigenous Democratic Network was forced to shut its doors in January 2011 due to funding issues.
As an attorney, her experience in state and federal courtrooms, vast knowledge of governmental agencies, and the political scene, uniquely qualify her to assist tribal governments and individuals in addressing complex environmental and legal issues.
Free has been active in public service in Washington, D.C., Oklahoma (her home state), and nationally for more than 25 years. After she graduated from law school, Free was the youngest lawyer ever to be hired by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
During her 10 years with DOJ, she served as senior counsel in the Indian Resources Section where she supervised environmental litigation throughout Indian Country. Her two most notable cases were the filing of the first ever joint complaint between the United States and Indian Nations. It involved the Puyallup and Muckleshoot in Washington State, and the first Safe Drinking Water Act case for pollution of drinking water on the Sac and Fox Reservation in Oklahoma.
After leaving DOJ, Free returned to Southeastern Oklahoma and became the first woman elected district attorney of Pittsburg and Haskell Counties. During her tenure as DA, she made victims' rights, domestic violence and child abuse, priorities in her administration.
She increased the prosecution of domestic violence and child abuse cases, and racked up record-setting verdicts in the courtroom. Free has successfully prosecuted first-degree murderers, child molesters, wife-killers, rapists, drug dealers and dozens of corporate polluters.
Kalyn Free focuses her practice on legal issues important to Native American Indians, with a special emphasis on prosecuting corporations that pollute Indian Country.
She served as lead counsel for six years for the Ponca Tribe against a Taiwanese corporation in the largest class action ever certified in an environmental case in Indian Country. The case settled in 2009 for $10.6 million.
In 2003, she obtained a settlement for a single individual for more than $1 million against a natural gas company for polluting his pond.
She has received numerous awards recognizing her dedication to fighting for those who have no other voice, including the Arthur S. Fleming Award for Outstanding Service to the federal government; the American Bar Association's Spirit of Excellence Award for her efforts to increase minority hiring at the U.S. Department of Justice; the Oklahoma Institute of Child Advocacy's Friend of Children award; and the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault's Make a Difference award.
She also received the 21st Century Democrats 2006 Rising Star award and the National Education Association's 2007 Leo Reano Memorial Award for her inspiring work with American Indians.
Her husband, Steve Bruner, served on the Muscogee National Council until 2012 when he chose not to seek re-election. Her two "children" Wegas and Ofi, have four paws each-and are German Shepherds.
Free further believes that when Native American Indian children and adults witness other Indians running for and winning higher offices, future generations will be inspired to cast their vote to make the Indian voice a palpable force in American politics.
In 2011, she was senior advisor and attorney for Bill John Baker's campaign for Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation against Chad "Corn-tassel" Smith, the incumbent, and again as senior advisor during Baker's successful 2015 re-election bid. She now serves as Baker's Special Counsel.
Free describes her life and career struggles in Why? Rising to the Challenge, which is included in Voices of the Heartland, a collection of 50 women of recent Oklahoma history who have helped to shape society. She has also contributed opinion pieces to other publications.
"My dream of seeing the first Indian woman in Congress, an Indian governor, and ultimately an Indian president, lives on. They are all out there, somewhere. "And maybe, just maybe," she states, "INDN's List helped to show them the way."
A version of this article appears in 100+ Native American Women Who Changed the World by KB Schaller, Winner, 2014 International Book Award, Women's Issues Category.
Resources:
Free, Kalyn, submitted biography
Taylor, Carolyn Anne, ETAL, Voices of the Heartland, 2009, Kalyn Free, pp. 75-81.Wikipedia, Kalyn Free
KB Schaller(Cherokee/Seminole heritage) is a journalist, researcher, novelist and illustrator. Her books are available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million and other bookstores. She lives in South Florida. Email: soaring-eagles@msn.com
