Chuck Sams to headline the Power of Community Celebration

Charles (Chuck) Sams III will be a featured speaker at the Walla Walla Democrats’ Power of Community celebration on Wednesday, June 18, at 6 p.m., in the ballroom of The Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla.

The Power of Community event will feature Sams and several local elected officials in conversations about leadership, service, and community engagement.

Sams, a Walla Walla resident of Cayuse ancestry, is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). He made history as the first tribal citizen to serve as Director of the National Park Service, a position he held from December 2021 to January 2025.

Born and raised on the Umatilla Reservation in northeast Oregon, Sams holds a Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Management, Communications, and Leadership from Concordia University. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center “A” School and served as an Intelligence Specialist with the Joint Intelligence Center Pacific Command and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Throughout his career, Sams has held numerous leadership roles, including Executive Director of the CTUIR. He has been a consistent advocate for building trust and collaboration between tribal nations and the federal government.

With more than 35 years of leadership experience in tribal governance and conservation, Sams has contributed to organizations such as the Community Action Program of East Central Oregon, Earth Conservation Corps, Community Energy Project, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, the Trust for Public Land’s Tribal and Native Lands Program, the Umatilla Tribal Community Foundation, and the Indian Country Conservancy.

In February, Governor Tina Kotek appointed Sams to serve as one of Oregon’s representatives on the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. The council works to ensure an affordable and reliable energy system while enhancing fish and wildlife habitats in the Columbia River Basin.

Following his tenure with the National Park Service, Sams authored a powerful and thoughtful article on the critical role of public lands in American life, the value of Indigenous stewardship, and the threats posed by drastic budget cuts under the Trump administration. This article can be accessed here.

We are deeply honored to welcome Chuck Sams as a keynote speaker at the Power of Community celebration.

Special thanks to Whitman College for its contributions to this article. Sams will serve as Whitman’s Commencement Speaker on Sunday, May 25.