Staff Bio

Delanie Seals is currently the Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Student Intern for the John S. McCain III National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution. She is from Oklahoma and is a proud member of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Sac and Fox Nations. She received a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies, as well as a minor in Spanish, from East Central University (ECU). As a 2023 Udall Foundation Native American Congressional Intern, she interned for Melanie Stansbury, the United States Representative of New Mexico’s First Congressional District. During her time in Washington, D.C., she worked on issues surrounding Tribal sovereignty and Native American water rights. Her experiences inspired her to get her Master of Science from ECU in the Water Resource Policy Management Program. Her career in advocacy blossomed in high school where she successfully changed her school’s dress code policy to allow for cultural expression. This included the right for students to wear headwraps, as well as the right to wear traditional eagle feathers to graduation. During her undergraduate years, among other things, she wrote an undergraduate thesis on McGirt v. Oklahoma; joined the City of Ada Multiculturalism Committee; wrote a Juneteenth proclamation for her city council; organized discussions on criminal justice reform in Oklahoma; and served as the ECU Student Government President. Delanie has an extensive professional career in many political and legal organizations. She has interned for Oklahoma Representative Mauree Turner, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Chickasaw Nation District Court, the Chickasaw Nation Office of Natural Resources, and as a paralegal for the Oklahoma Indian Legal Services. In her small amount of free time, she likes to study languages, read books, and make beaded jewelry.