ADA, Okla. – Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby has appointed Jennie Mosely director of Chickasaw Nation Real Estate Services.

Mrs. Mosely, a Chickasaw citizen, manages all operations over the Chickasaw Nation’s land base, including oil and gas leases, farming and grazing, land purchases, and transfer to trust status of property. Also, the department works extensively with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) with land ownership and legislative updates.

“Jennie Mosely understands the vital role land ownership plays in the lives of the Chickasaw people and the progress of the Chickasaw Nation,” Governor Anoatubby said. “Her education and experience have prepared her to help ensure land ownership continues to benefit the Chickasaw people for generations to come.”

Real Estate Services also manages commercial leasing for all Chickasaw Nation departments in addition to property purchases. Mrs. Mosely directs a staff of seven in an office she describes as “incredibly busy.”

While attending East Central University, she landed a part-time job with the Chickasaw Nation as a personnel clerk in the human relations department. She continued her studies and graduated with a business management degree.

“If it wasn’t for the Chickasaw Nation, I am not sure I could have earned my degree,” Mrs. Mosely said. “What the Chickasaw Nation provides to students are opportunities for the future.”

After graduating in 2000, Mrs. Mosely spent 15 years working for the BIA in the real estate services division.

It was at the BIA, thanks to sage advice from her Kiowa-Comanche father, Guy Ware, and Chickasaw mother, Kathy, that Mrs. Mosely understood landownership is key to “sovereignty.” The family cattle business was near Anadarko, where Mr. Ware still holds title to his family’s trust allotments.

“I was raised and immersed in the importance of protecting your land,” Mrs. Mosely recalls. “Landownership is how Native Americans really protect and preserve sovereignty, as well as their cultural identity. If you own the land, people can’t tell you what to do with it. My parents always told me to do right by our Native people.”

The opportunity to join the Chickasaw Nation allowed Ms. Mosely to help her tribe.

“It was important for me to give back, and it was personal, too,” she said. “My heart has always been in real estate services. Protecting your land base makes it possible to continue as a strong tribe and to create economic development to ensure a viable future for our children and citizens.”

The personal aspect is from a fascinating 1911 lawsuit between her great-great Chickasaw grandmother, Ida Anoatubby, who prevailed in a case where a farmer planted cotton on her allotment land but paid no fee. At the time, her grandmother was a minor. Her guardian was with her every step of the way. She won the case before the Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1915.

Mrs. Mosely and her husband, Palmer, are the parents of four children. They are Palmer Mosely IV, 19; Ethan Lovell, 16; Grayson Mosely, 6, and Maverick Mosely, 5. Mr. Mosely also is employed by the Chickasaw Nation as Undersecretary of Self-Governance under the Department of Interior Services.

“I feel very honored Governor Anoatubby and Secretary Wayne Scribner have trusted me.”