Chief Glen Brock

FROM THIS CORNER
By
Glenna J. Wallace

CHIEF GLEN BROCK: A SHAWNEE THINKER

Born on leap year day, the 29th of February, the ninth child in a family of nine children and the ninth
Chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma in modern elected times, Glen Brock did as the now
famous quotation implores, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
country.” After attending Business Committee meetings for several years, Brock became interested in
tribal government and decided to run for the position of Second Chief, to which he was elected
unopposed in 1996. When Chief Nelis Captain resigned, Glen Brock advanced to Chief in October 1997
to fill the vacancy as the constitution dictates. It was a position he neither asked for nor particularly
wanted, but he served his tribe willingly and ably until the term ended in September, 1998, just shy of
one year in office. He chose not to run for reelection.

The son of Lawrence D. Brock and Ruthie May Tucker Brock, Glen was born February 29, 1956. His
mother was the daughter of Silas Tucker and Mary Punch Tucker. Mary Punch was full blood Shawnee
and Silas Tucker was full blood Shawnee/Peoria. Thus Glen’s mother was classified four fourths (4/4)
Native American, meaning one hundred percent Native American, just not 100% of one tribe, the
technical definition of full blood. When Ruthie died at the age of 95 in 2013, she was the last person in
the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma to be four fourths (4/4). An era had ended. Silas and Mary
Punch Tucker were from White Oak, Oklahoma. Glen’s mother, Ruthie May, was Shawnee/Peoria but
Glen proudly states that she always considered herself Eastern Shawnee and all nine of the children are
Eastern Shawnee which includes four daughters: Virginia Clark, Florence Routh, Geraldine Loftin, Linda
Shores and five sons Lawrence Duke, Johnny, Darrell, Gary and Glen Brock.

Glen was raised in the Oak Grove School District, near Peoria, Oklahoma. He went to grade school at
Oak Grove, and then graduated from Quapaw High School. After receiving his high school diploma, he
attended NEO A&M College at Miami, OK, receiving a certificate in marketing and management. He
then changed majors and graduated with an Associate of Arts (AA) degree in nursing. Next he passed
state boards, becoming a Registered Nurse (RN). He didn’t stop there but continued his education at
Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) in Springfield, MO, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in
Nursing (BSN) in 1986. He continues to work in his chosen field of nursing today (Dec. 2013).

Even though his education and his career kept him busy, Chief Glen Brock always found time or more
appropriately made time to serve his tribe/our tribe. He first began attending Business Committee
meetings when he was a teenager. At that time the Tribe did not have any buildings, so the meetings
took place in the Ottawa Tribal Building across from NEO A&M College in Miami, OK. He has attended
every Eastern Shawnee Annual Pow Wow since its inception, serving on the original pow wow
committee, then being Chairman of the Pow Wow Committee for several years. Those cultural
traditions lead him to become interested in tribal government.

During his tenure as Chief, he and the Business Committee were involved in several endeavors. The first
was the acquisition of additional shares in People’s Bank of Seneca. Chief Brock indicates he was also in
negotiations with the city of Ft. Scott, Kansas and the state of Kansas to place a gaming facility on
property near our motel in Fort Scott, Kansas. Other projects included planning for a convenience/truck
plaza on the property of Highway 10C and discussion of expanding the sewer treatment plant at Seneca
to accommodate continued growth at our tribal complex. A grant of more than one million dollars for
our Housing Authority was obtained and plans were begun for the current housing development. Chief
Brock indicated that during his time as Chief, he enjoyed interacting with tribal members and other
Indian people. He states he learned the meaning of being a sovereign nation.

In a statement prepared for this article, Chief Brock wrote, “Our tribe has come a long way from a time
when the Business Committee met in the Ottawa Tribal Building across from NEO A&M College when I
was a teenager and first attended these meetings. I believe our success has been due to very strong,
intelligent, forward thinking individuals. Our tribal heritage comes from a historically independent and
wise people. I think for all Shawnee to continue to exist as a sovereign people we will have to work
together, to maintain tradition and culture maximize our effort to learn our Shawnee language, which is
an integral part of our being, as Shawnee people.”

Glen Brock lived up to the challenge of doing what he could for his tribe, our tribe. He continues to work
in the nursing field, continues to be one of the “seven in seven”, a term his mother Ruthie May
laughingly referred to as seven of her nine children living within seven miles of each other, and
continues to “think Shawnee”, a phrase he used to end every article he wrote for the Shooting Star.