Maria Pearson and Governor Ray edit

Mrs. Pearson had a very colorful way of describing her first interaction with Governor Ray. She said that she adorned her women's traditional dance regalia, entered the governor's office and asked to meet him. The secretary hesitated to arrange a walk-in visit and insisted on scheduling an appointment. She answered with, "Tell him that Running Moccasins is here to see him." This piqued Ray's curiosity and "I saw his head peek around the corner and he invited me in". That initial meeting was beginning of a long partnership towards creating landmark legislation regarding equal protection of Native American cemeteries and burial sites.