“Who ever thought I would be chief?” Texas’ Alabama-Coushatta tribe elects first female chief

Myra Battise helps newly elected second chief Millie Thompson Williams with her official regalia after a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Battise nominated Williams for the leadership role. Williams is the first female elected as a chief in the tribe’s history. (Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune)

LIVINGSTON — When Millie Thompson Williams and her cousin Myra Battise were growing up, they’d play make-believe underneath a canopy of pine trees in the Big Thicket National Preserve, pretending to be tribal council members.

It was a true fantasy for the two girls growing up during the 1960s, when the seven-member governing body of their tribe was made up entirely of men.