First Female Cherokee Chief

Wilma Mankiller was born in Oklahoma and was the first female Cherokee chief.  She was a strong and articulate civil rights proponent and figure for both Native causes and women’s causes.  I found that her assertions that most “American” women know very little about Native American women, and the little that they do know has been tainted by Hollywood, and is largely negative or not quite accurate.  I find that an interesting statement because, I don’t think that it’s only limited to American women; I feel American men know very little accurate information about actual Native American women. 

I feel that it shows just how civilized the Native tribes were because a number of them have women equal or even higher status than men (referencing at least matriarchal Native tribe of the Eastern Woodlands that I am familiar with).  This like so many other facts completely refute the Europeans views of the Natives as being uncivilized.  The only way for people to gain a more accurate view of who the Natives were/are is going to be through education and strong advocates like Wilma.

As far as female role models go, I could think of few that would be better than Wilma Mankiller. She personifies, in my estimation, a fantastic role model for both Natives and non-Native alike.  It is unfortunate that I had not learned about her prior to this class, as it may have given me a broader perspective of what it’s like to be a Native female in this country before beginning this course.   

Wilma Mankiller - Role Model

Sonoma State University presents Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller was the first female Principle Chief of the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma. Through the experiences of her childhood living away from the reservation in San Francisco and the awakening of the Indian rights movement of the 60’s and 70’s she became politically involved in the plight of Native Americans. Upon returning to the Cherokee Reservation in Oklahoma and working as a community coordinator for the tribe she was asked by then chief Ross Swimmer to run as deputy chief. She became principle chief when he was nominated to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC. She served 3 consecutive 4 year terms as chief and would have run again for the position had not her health been poor. She passed away in 2010 from pancreatic cancer.

Her speech at Sonoma State University (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVLgwpHSYv0) should be required viewing for high school students studying American history as she discusses the sovereignty and structure of tribal governments and the role of women in those governments. She correctly describes how tribes have lost the ability to sustain themselves due to the enormous amount of land that was ceded to the United States through treaties or otherwise taken from them, leaving little or no natural resources to build an economy on.

   

Wilma expounds on the fact that most Americans have no understanding of who modern Native Americans are or what their culture is like. Her story of the non-native visitor to a tribal village asking where all the Indians were and getting the response “Probably at K-Mart” spoke volumes about the mistaken perceptions Native Americans. She is passionate about the need within the tribal structure to preserve the stories that recount tribal history and culture that have been handed down verbally from generation to generation and are being lost when elders pass on.

What stands out is the role model that Wilma Mankiller was and is, not only to Native Americans but to women of all cultural heritages. She was a strong and determined leader who was not afraid to see the positive aspect of any situation or crisis and to look to the past for solutions while showing compassion and concern for maintaining Native American culture and traditional values. Her example is a guidebook for the continued emergence of Native Americans as respected and revered members of American culture.

WIlma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller was born in Oklahoma, and became the first Cherokee female chief in 1985. She was a major Civil rights activist, but due to illness she did not "seek re-election" in 1995. In her speech, she states that most American woman do not know much about Native woman, other than Sacagawea. This actually seems like a very spot on statement, maybe throw in Pocahontas and there ends the knowledge of native woman. She claims that there are many negative stereotypes towards native woman due to TV, media, and film, which is very much true.

I did find that while what Wilma had to say was extremely interesting, it was hard to listen to her speak and it almost felt like she was just droning on and on with not much tone in her voice. I had to actually google her, to get a better aspect of what she said to be able to actually comprehend it. From what I did gather, she seemed like an extremely passionate woman, who had nothing but the best interest for her people and led her people through very difficult times for 2 decades, standing up for women rights in everything she did.

I find it extremely honorable that American Indians have had woman rights, and women were considered "equal" to men long before  the American people began to accept equal rights. It also stood out to me a something that I realized a few weeks ago. Wilma points out that it amazes her, that so many white Americans, know nothing about the people who have inhabited this land long before Europeans ever set foot on it. Yet, The American Indians were forced to learn about the American people and were not given a choice about being integrated into society. Learning English, reading literature, going to church, dressing like white folk as well as the day to day life of the American culture.

When asked by tourists visiting Cherokee land, "where are all the Indians" Wilma responded often with "truthfully, they're probably at Kmart". This got a laugh from her audience as well as from me. Subconsciously we all think that natives still live in their sheepskin/buckskin, feathered hats and teepees; even on reservations. Reality check for most Americans, natives live in homes, just like us, shop at stores and markets, just like us, and drive cars, just like us. I feel like Natives need a section in US Weekly similar to celebrities titled "Native Americans, they're just like us!" But then, that would be considered a derogatory title, even though, many people need to see it.

I found Wilma's speech to be very inspirational which is tying in nicely to the end of semester wrap up and its a shame that she has passed because while her speech was tough to listen to, I'm sure in person she would have been a fabulous story teller as well as some one with endless amounts of knowledge.

Wilma Mankiller

                The video link provided is an excellent resource, giving us a look into who Wilma Mankiller was. Wilma Mankiller was the first female chief of the Cherokee nation. She devoted her life to tribal culture, values, politics, language and history.

                Something that stood out to me in this video was the way she spoke about tribal culture. Although Wilma answers many questions, I found a common factor throughout the video that I’d like to focus on; the loss and rebuilding of tribal culture.  Wilma shares, that with the loss of tribal elders; many stories and information is also lost. That’s why it is so important to preserve the knowledge and traditional values. In tribal culture, most information and knowledge is passed down through stories. With the loss of tribal language, traditions, and the elders than maintained those aspects, the knowledge can easily become forgotten.

                Wilma speaks about reciprocal relationships, in which the tribal community maintains responsibility for one another, through interdependency. This community responsibility promotes oneness, unity, harmony and balance. As the sense of community returns, tribal people begin to trust their own thinking again. Many projects are now in place to support the tribal communities’ interdependency. Many tribal communities are directing their own services now, for health needs, education needs, and community needs. As this interdependency is maintained, people being to filter information through their tribal values.

                The interesting thing is, these actions being taking to preserve the culture are happening at the same time as the loss of culture. As the elders are passing, tribal communities are strengthening to ensure that their culture isn’t lost. Through a sense of community, they are rebuilding and maintaining the responsibility to each other. This is interesting to me because community is something that I have already identified as a major difference between modern American culture and Native American culture. As I have written before, the sense of community that Native Americans share among each other is a sign of being able to see beyond oneself. Something that sadly, doesn’t seem all too common in modern American culture.

                Wilma Mankiller’s work and influence has helped to support the strengthening of not just the Cherokee nation, but all tribal communities. Her work continues to inspire natives and non natives to see the value of tradition and the importance of interdependency.