She was elected as the first woman president of the Mescalero Apache Tribe, and served on the Tribal Council for nearly 30 years.
She was known for being the first elected female leader of a major tribe, and for her work in preserving the Apache language.
She was born Virginia Shanta and raised in Three Rivers, New Mexico, where she lived all of her life.
She served on the New Mexico Indian Education Advisory Council in the 1980s and received the third annual governor's award for outstanding New Mexican women in 1988.
"[1] Following her term, she was repeatedly elected as a member of the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council.