|
"Visionary Chief of the Cherokee Nation"
There is a story Wilma Mankiller likes to tell that neatly sums up both
the resistance she had had to face as Chief of the 140,000 strong Cherokee
nation, and her good humored way of dealing with it. While speaking on
Indian Economic Development at an eastern College, Mankiller was met at
the airport by a young man who wanted to know what he should call her,
Chief being, as he put it, "a male term." After remaining silent through
his suggestions of "Chieftainess" and even "Chiefette", Mankiller stopped
him with her own preference. "Call me Ms Chief," she said. "Mischief."
Actually she just prefers to be called Wilma, but she has been making
legendary mischief on behalf of her Cherokee people since 1969, when she
became involved in the Native American Rights Movement. In1983, another
activist, banker Ross Swimmer asked to run with him as Deputy Chief.
Wilma soon realized that it would not be easy to convince people to accept
a woman in power. She prepared her platforms carefully, but soon came
to understand that all people really wanted to know was, could a woman
do the job? She endured tire slashing and threats from those who believed
the negative.
Wilma Mankiller's vision of a nation reborn into its proud but lacerated
culture began with the belief that people who were disadvantaged by society,
as she had seen among the poor black and native Americans on the housing
development where she grew up, are adept at solving their own problems.
She believed the Cherokee nation could be empowered in the same way. Her
convictions led the way and with Ross Swimmer as elected Chief, she became
deputy chief .
When Swimmer resigned in 1985, she assumed the mantle of Chief as was
expected of the deputy, and in 1987, was overwhelmingly voted in as Chief
in her own right.
"Prior to my election, " says Mankiller, "young Cherokee girls would never
have thought that they might grow up and become chief." Wilma Mankiller
has not only overcome the resistance of those opposed to a woman in a
position of authority; she has had to face personal challenges
too.
She was born one of ten children in a poor family. At the age of 11, the
Mankillers were uprooted from their homeland and "resettled" in a government
housing project. In 1974, she divorced her first husband. In 1979 she was
involved in a terrible car accident that almost cost her life. She barely
escaped losing a leg and endured 17 operations in the aftermath.
In 1980, she was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease
that affects the voluntary muscles. In 1986 she received a kidney from her
brother Don Mankiller. But none of this has stood in the way of her vision.
Rather, adversity has strengthened her belief in the power of people to
overcome challenges. Her aim has always been to make the Cherokee Nation
self-sufficient. Through her tireless campaigns, there have been positive,
practical improvements such as clean water supplies and housing programs
on native land. During her period as deputy chief, Wilma Mankiller helped
establish a cattle and poultry ranch, a motel and restaurant and an electronics
company. Her focus has always been on the peaceful implementation of practical
projects for self-sufficiency.
As Chief, she founded the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce, another first, and
focused on preserving tribal language and traditions. In January 1988, Wilma
Mankiller was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former president
Bill Clinton. "Receiving this award for something I love to do is like giving
a bird an award for singing." She said. Wilma Mankiller's time as Chief
of the Cherokee has ended, but her voice has been heard throughout the nation
and the world. Her song has become the music of legend.
Wilma
Mankiller honored in the National Women's Hall of Fame
Wilma Mankiller's
bio at Social Security Administration
Contributed by: Morning
Star (S)
Contents of this page are
Copyright Sisters of the Golden Moon
And should not be removed from this site.
|