His father served in World War II and his mother was Potawatomi from the Peltier and Boursaw families.
He transferred again, this time to Oklahoma City University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business.
After graduating, he worked as a traveling salesman for the United States Plywood Corporation.
He claims to have been in Memphis, Tennessee during the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and that "our warehouse was right within sight of where he got shot.
"[2] In 1975, Barrett was elected as the vice-chairman of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and served two terms.