Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Pearl Mankillerwas the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. A liberal member of the Democratic Party, she served as principal chief for ten years from 1985 to 1995. She is the author of a national-bestselling autobiography, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People and co-authored Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women...
NationalityCherokee
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth18 November 1945
CityTahlequah, OK
teamwork moving adversity
Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.
done path looks
Look forward. Turn what has been done into a better path.
girl growing-up might
Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief.
moving diversity sitting
It's like everybody's sitting there and they have some kind of veil over their face, and they look at each other through this veil that makes them see each other through some stereotypical kind of viewpoint. If we're ever gonna collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we're gonna have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.
real men thinking
Western movies always seemed to show Indian women washing clothes at the creek and men with a tomahawk or spear in their hands, adorned with lots of feathers. That image has stayed in some people's minds. Many think we're either visionaries, `noble savages,' squaw drudges or tragic alcoholics. We're very rarely depicted as real people who have greater tenacity in terms of trying to hang on to our culture and values system than most people.
real issues people
I hope many of you will be people that question why things are and why we have to do them the way we have always done them. I hope you will take some risks, exert some real leadership on issues, and if you will, dance along the edge of the roof as you continue for life.
believe agency years
A significant number of people believe tribal people still live and dress as they did 300 years ago. During my tenure as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, national news agencies requesting interviews sometimes asked if they could film a tribal dance or if I would wear traditional tribal clothing for the interview. I doubt they asked the president of the United States to dress like a pilgrim for an interview.
answers steps step-up
Every single person has leadership ability. Some step up and take them. Some don't. My answer was to step up and lead.
moving growth veils
Growth is a painful process. If we’re ever going to collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we’re going to have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.
strong path steps
Remember that I am just a woman who is living a very abundant life. Every step I take forward is on a path paved by strong Indian women before me.
jobs thinking done
We must trust our own thinking. Trust where we're going. And get the job done.
teacher native-american school
Though many non-Native Americans have learned very little about us, over time we have had to learn everything about them. We watch their films, read their literature, worship in their churches, and attend their schools. Every third-grade student in the United States is presented with the concept of Europeans discovering America as a "New World" with fertile soil, abundant gifts of nature, and glorious mountains and rivers. Only the most enlightened teachers will explain that this world certainly wasn't new to the millions of indigenous people who already lived here when Columbus arrived.
acceptance want persons
I want to be remembered as the person who helped us restore faith in ourselves.
future reality thinking
I think the most important issue we have as a people is what we started, and that is to begin to trust our own thinking again and belive in ourselves enough to think that we can articulate our own vision of the future and then work to make sure that that vision becomes a reality.