Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller | |
---|---|
Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation | |
In office December 14, 1985 – August 14, 1995 | |
Preceded by | Ross Swimmer |
Succeeded by | Joe Byrd |
Personal details | |
Born | Wilma Pearl Mankiller November 18, 1945 Tahlequah, Oklahoma, U.S. |
Died | April 6, 2010 near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, U.S. | (aged 64)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | Hugo Olaya
(m. 1963; div. 1974)Charlie Soap (m. 1986) |
Children | 2 |
Education | Skyline College San Francisco State University (BA) University of Arkansas |
Wilma Pearl Mankiller (Cherokee: ᎠᏥᎳᏍᎩ ᎠᏍᎦᏯᏗᎯ, romanized: Atsilasgi Asgayadihi; November 18, 1945 – April 6, 2010) was a Native American activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, she lived on her family's allotment in Adair County, Oklahoma, until the age of 11, when her family relocated to San Francisco as part of a federal government program to urbanize Indigenous Americans. After high school, she married a well-to-do Ecuadorian and raised two daughters. Inspired by the social and political movements of the 1960s, Mankiller became involved in the Occupation of Alcatraz and later participated in the land and compensation struggles with the Pit River Tribe. For five years in the early 1970s, she was employed as a social worker, focusing mainly on children's issues.
When Mankiller returned to Oklahoma in 1976, the Cherokee Nation hired her as an economic stimulus coordinator. With her expertise at preparing documentation, she became a successful grant writer, and by the early 1980s was directing the newly created Community Development Department of the Cherokee Nation. As Director she designed and supervised innovative community projects allowing rural citizens to identify their own challenges and, through their labor, participate in solving them. Her project in
Her management ability came to the notice of the incumbent Principal Chief, Ross Swimmer, who invited her to run as his deputy in the 1983 tribal elections. When the duo won, she became the first elected woman to serve as Deputy Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She was elevated to Principal Chief when Swimmer took a position in the federal administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, serving until 1995. During her administration, the Cherokee government built new health clinics, created a mobile eye-care clinic, established ambulance services, and created early education, adult education and job training programs. She developed revenue streams, including factories, retail stores, restaurants and bingo operations, while establishing self-governance, allowing the tribe to manage its own finances.
Mankiller returned to her activist role as an advocate working to improve the image of Native Americans and combat the misappropriation of native heritage, by authoring books including a bestselling autobiography, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, and giving numerous lectures on health care, tribal sovereignty, women's rights and cancer awareness after retiring from politics. Throughout her life, she had serious health problems, including polycystic kidney disease, myasthenia gravis, lymphoma and breast cancer, and needed two kidney transplants. She died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer, and was honored with many local, state and national awards, including the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In 2021 it was announced that Mankiller's likeness would appear on the quarter-dollar coin[2] as a part of the United States Mint's "American Women Quarters" program.[3]
Early life (1945–1955)
Wilma Pearl Mankiller was born on November 18, 1945, in the Hastings Indian Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to Clara Irene (née Sitton) and Charley Mankiller.[4][5] Her father was a full-blooded Cherokee,[4][6] whose ancestors had been forced to relocate to Indian Territory from Tennessee over the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.[6][7][8] Her mother descended from Dutch-Irish and English immigrants[9] who had first settled in Virginia and North Carolina in the 1700s. Her maternal grandparents came to Oklahoma in the early 1900s from Georgia and Arkansas, respectively.[4][Notes 1] The surname "Mankiller", Asgaya-dihi (Cherokee syllabary: ᎠᏍᎦᏯᏗᎯ) in the Cherokee language, refers to a traditional Cherokee military rank, similar to a captain or major,[11] or a shaman with the ability to avenge wrongs through spiritual methods.[12] Alternative spellings are Outacity[13] and Ontassetè.[14] Wilma's given Cherokee name, meaning flower, was A-ji-luhsgi.[15] When Charley and Irene married in 1937,[16] they settled on Charley's father, John Mankiller's[Notes 2] allotment, known as "Mankiller Flats", near Rocky Mountain in Adair County, Oklahoma, which he had received in 1907 as part of the government policy of forced assimilation for Native American people.[18][19][20]
Wilma had five older siblings: Louis Donald "Don", Frieda Marie, Robert Charles, Frances Kay and John David.[15] In 1948, when she was three, the family moved into a house built by her father, her uncle and her brother, Don, on the allotment of her grandfather John.[8][11] Her five other siblings, Linda Jean, Richard Colson, Vanessa Lou, James Ray and William Edward, were born over the next 12 years.[15] The small house had no electricity or plumbing[21] and they lived in "extreme poverty".[11] The family hunted and fished, maintaining a vegetable garden to feed themselves. They also grew peanuts and strawberries, which they sold.[15] Mankiller went to school through the fifth grade in a three-room schoolhouse, in Rocky Mountain.[22][23] The family spoke both English and Cherokee at home; even Mankiller's mother spoke Cherokee.[22] Her mother canned food and used flour sacks to make clothes for the children,[15][22] whom she immersed in Cherokee heritage. Though they joined the Baptist church, the children were wary of white congregants and customs, preferring to attend tribal ceremonial gatherings.[24] Family elders taught the children traditional stories.[25]
Relocation to San Francisco (1956–1976)
In 1955, a severe drought made it more difficult for the family to provide for itself.[26][27] As a part of the Indian termination policy, the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 provided assistance to relocate Native families to urban areas. Agents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs promised better jobs and living conditions for families that agreed to move.[19] In 1956, when she was 11,[22] her father Charley was denied a loan from the BIA,[28] and decided that moving to a city where he would have a regular income and a steady job would be good for his family.[27][29] The family chose California because Irene's mother lived in Riverbank. Selling their belongings, they took a train from Stilwell, Oklahoma, to San Francisco.[28] Though they were promised an apartment in the city, there were no apartments available when the Mankillers arrived. They were housed in a squalid hotel in the Tenderloin District for several weeks.[30] Even when the family moved to Potrero Hill, where both her father and brother Don found work, the family struggled financially.[23] They had few Native American neighbors, creating alienation from their tribal identities.[31][32]
Mankiller and her siblings enrolled in school, but it was difficult as the other students made fun of her surname[33][34] and teased her about her clothes and the way she spoke.[23] Mankiller withdrew from school due to her classmates' treatment.[23] Within a year, the family had saved money and were able to move to Daly City, but Mankiller still felt alienated and ran away from home, going to her grandmother's farm in Riverbank. Wilma continued to run away despite her grandmother made her return to Potrero so her parents decided to let her live on the farm for a year.[35] By the time she returned, the family had moved again and were living in Hunters Point, a neighborhood riddled with crime, drugs and gangs.[33][36] Though she had regained her confidence during her year away, Mankiller still felt isolated and began to become involved in the activities of the San Francisco Indian Center.[36] She remained indifferent to school, where she struggled with math and science, but graduated from high school in June 1963.[36][37]
As soon as she finished school, Mankiller found a clerical job in a finance company and moved in with her sister Frances.
Activism
In 1964, a small group of
The occupation inspired Mankiller to become involved in civil rights activism.[41][46] Prior to the November takeover of the island, she had not been involved in either AIM or the United Bay Council. She began to meet with other Native Americans who had participated in the Indian Center, becoming active in the groups supporting the Occupation.[47] While she did visit Alcatraz, most of her work focused on fundraising and support, gathering supplies of blankets, food and water for those on the island.[48] Soon after the Occupation began, Charley Mankiller was diagnosed with kidney disease, which caused Mankiller to discover that she shared polycystic kidney disease with her father.[49] In between her activism, school and family obligations, she spent as much time with him as she was able.[50] The Occupation lasted 19 months,[51] and during that time, Mankiller learned organizational skills and how to do paralegal research.[46] She had been encouraged by other activists to continue her studies, and began planning a career.[40][46]
Social work
On her father's death in 1971, the Mankiller family returned to Oklahoma for his burial. When she returned to California, she transferred to San Francisco State University
Closer to home, Mankiller founded East Oakland's Native American Youth Center, where she served as director. Locating a building, she called for volunteers to paint and help draft educational programs to help youth learn about their heritage, enjoying overwhelming support from the community.[58] In 1974, Mankiller and Olaya divorced and she moved with her two daughters to Oakland. Taking a position as a social worker with the Urban Indian Resource Center, she worked on programs conducting research on child abuse and neglect,[59] foster care, and adoption of Native children. Recognizing that most indigenous children were placed with families with no knowledge of Native traditions, she worked on legislation with other staff and attorneys to prevent children from being removed from their culture. The law, which eventually passed as the Indian Child Welfare Act, made it illegal to place Native children in non-Native families.[60]
Return to Oklahoma
Community development (1976–1983)
In 1976, Mankiller's mother returned to Oklahoma, prompting Mankiller to move as well with her two daughters.
On November 9, 1979, on her way back to Tahlequah from Fayetteville, Mankiller's vehicle was struck by an oncoming car. Sherry Morris, one of Mankiller's closest friends, was driving the other vehicle and died in the crash.[66][67][74] Mankiller suffered broken ribs as well as breaks in her left leg and ankle, and both her face and right leg were crushed. Initially doctors thought that she would not regain the ability to walk. After 17 operations and plastic surgery to reconstruct her face, she was released from the hospital able to walk with crutches.[67][74] While still in recovery from the accident, three months after the collision, Mankiller began to notice a loss of muscle coordination. She dropped things, was unable to grip items, her voice tired after a few moments of speaking.[66] Doctors thought that the problems were related to the accident, but one day while watching a muscular dystrophy telethon, Mankiller thought her symptoms sounded similar. She called the muscular dystrophy center, was referred to a specialist, and was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. In November 1980, she returned to the hospital, underwent more surgeries and began a course of chemotherapy, which lasted several years. She went back to work in December.[75]
She later said the car crash and its aftermath were life-changing, leading her to accept what she called "a Cherokee approach to life." In a 1993 interview on NPR, she said: "I think the Cherokee approach to life is being able to continually move forward with kind of a good mind and not focus on the negative things in your life and the negative things you see around you, but focus on the positive things and try to look at the larger picture and keep moving forward..[It] also taught me to look at the larger things in life rather than focusing on small things, and it's also awfully, awfully hard to rattle me after having faced my own mortality ... so the things I learned from those experiences actually enabled me to lead. Without those experiences, I don't think I would have been able to lead. I think I would have gotten caught up in a lot of nonsensical things."[76]
Mankiller's first community development program as a
Politics (1983–1995)
Deputy Chief (1983–1985)
In 1983, Mankiller, a Democrat, was selected as a running mate by Ross Swimmer, a Republican, in a bid for Swimmer's third consecutive term as principal chief.[85] Though they both wanted the tribe to become more self-sufficient, Swimmer felt the path was through developing tribal businesses, like hotels and agricultural enterprises. Mankiller wanted to focus on small rural communities, improving housing and health care.[86] Their differences on policy were not a key problem in the election, but Mankiller's gender was. She was surprised by the sexism she faced, as in traditional Cherokee society, families and clans were organized matrilineally.[87][88] Though traditionally women had not held titled positions in Cherokee government, they had a women's council which wielded considerable influence, and were responsible for training the tribal chief.[87] She received death threats, her tires were slashed, and a billboard with her likeness was burned. Swimmer nevertheless remained steadfast.[89][90][91][Notes 3] Swimmer won reelection against Perry Wheeler by a narrow margin, on the strength of absentee voters. Mankiller also won by absentee voters in a run-off election for the deputy chief post against Agnes Cowen[99] and became the first woman elected deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation.[91] Wheeler and Cowen demanded a recount and filed a suit with the Cherokee Judicial Appeals Tribunal and U. S. District Court alleging voting irregularities. Both tribal and federal courts ruled against Wheeler and Cowen.[100]
One of her main duties as deputy chief was to preside over the Tribal Council, the fifteen-member governing body for the Cherokee Nation. Though she assumed that the sexism of the campaign would end once the election was resolved, Mankiller quickly realized that she had little support in the council. Some members viewed her as a political enemy, while others discounted her because of her gender.[101][102] She chose to avoid involvement in tribal legislation to minimize the hostility to her election, instead concentrating on areas of government that the council did not control.[103] One of her first focus issues was on the full-blood/mixed-blood divide. Cherokees with non-Native ancestry had assimilated into American culture to a greater extent, while full-bloods maintained Cherokee language and culture. The two groups historically had been at odds, with much disagreement on development. By the time Mankiller was elected deputy, the mixed-blood faction focused on economic growth and favored non-Natives being hired to run Native businesses if they were more qualified. Full-bloods believed that such modernization would compromise Cherokee identity.[104] Mankiller, who supported a middle-of-the-road approach, expanded the Cherokee Heritage Center and the Institute for Cherokee Literacy.[105] She persuaded the tribal council to change the way that council members were elected so that rather than at-large candidates, potential members came from newly created districts. The change meant that urban areas with large populations no longer controlled the council membership.[106]
Principal Chief, partial term (1985–1986)
In 1985, Chief Swimmer resigned when appointed assistant secretary of the US
By 1986, Mankiller and Charlie Soap's relationship had changed from a professional one to a personal one, leading to their engagement early in the year.[79] Not wanting to provoke calls for her to step down, they kept the relationship private until their marriage in October.[121] It nevertheless caused controversy, generating calls for Soap to resign from his position. He resigned, effective with the end of January 1987, which generated further criticism from Mankiller's opponents, who saw the delay as a tactic for Soap to qualify for retirement benefits.[120] Initially, Mankiller's negative experiences dissuaded her from seeking re-election, but after her opponents tried to persuade her not to run, she entered the race with Soap's support. She persuaded voters that the tribe could cooperate with state and federal governments to negotiate favorable terms to improve their opportunities.[121] Soap, as a full-blood Cherokee, was instrumental in taking her message to that faction and defusing the gender issue, by speaking in Cherokee with them about the traditional place of women in Cherokee society.[122][123] Focusing on budget cuts by the Reagan White House, she highlighted how reductions in funding for low-income housing, health and nutrition programs, and educational initiatives were affecting the tribe. While she recognized that economic development was a priority, Mankiller stressed that business development had to be balanced by addressing social problems.[124]
Weeks before the election, Mankiller was hospitalized for her kidney disease. Her opponents argued that she was medically unfit to lead the tribe.[122][125] Turnout was high and even though Mankiller won 45% of the vote, tribal law required 50% to avoid a run-off with Perry Wheeler.[123] She won the run-off, but within a week one of her supporters, who had been elected to the Tribal Council, died. The tribal election committee voted to nullify the absentee ballots for the new council membership, and Mankiller petitioned the Judicial Appeals Tribunal, which required a recount including the absentee voters. The council recount gave Mankiller's administration the majority and the seat was filled by a supporter of her policies.[122] Mankiller used the press surrounding her election to combat the negative stereotypes about Native people, stressing their cultural heritage and strengths. She was selected as Newsmaker of the Year by the Association for Women in Communications and as Ms. magazine's Woman of the Year for 1987, and was featured in the article "Celebration of Heroes" in Newsweek's July 1987 edition.[90][126]
Principal Chief, first elected term (1987–1991)
One of Mankiller's first initiatives was to lobby for maintaining the operation of the Talking Leaves Job Corps Center, which the
Founding the Private Industry Council, Mankiller brought government and private businesses together to analyze ways to generate economic growth in northeastern Oklahoma. She established employment training opportunities and programs that offered financial and technical expertise to tribal members who wanted to start their own small enterprises. She also backed the creation of a tribal electronic harness and cabling company, construction of a hydroelectric plant and a horticultural operation.
In December 1988, Mankiller's leadership was recognized with a national award bestowed by the
In June 1990, Mankiller's kidney disease worsened and one of her kidneys failed. Her brother Don donated one of his kidneys, and she underwent a kidney transplant in July, returning to work within a few weeks.[90][138] While she was in Boston recuperating from the transplant, she met with officials from Washington, D.C., and signed an agreement for the Cherokee Nation to participate in a project that allowed the tribe to self-govern and assume responsibility for the use of federal funds.[139] This change in policy had come about because of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Hearings on the matter resulted in amendments in 1988 to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, to allow ten tribes to participate in a pilot program spanning five years. Tribes received block grants and were allowed to tailor the use of funds based on local needs.[140] Further amendments in the early 1990s extended self-determination to the Indian Health Service.[141] Mankiller welcomed the initiative, which reinforced intergovernmental cooperation and increased self-determination.[142] During her first full administration, her government built new health clinics, created a mobile eye-care clinic and established ambulance services. They also created early education and adult education programs.[143] Mankiller was recognized with an honorary degree from Yale University in 1990[144] and from Dartmouth College in 1991.[145]
Around the same time, the contentious relationship with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians flared again. Under Swimmer, the Cherokee Nation had filed a lawsuit against the Keetoowah Band, which traditionally had allowed members to belong to both federally recognized tribes.[130] Mankiller had hoped to reconcile the differences between the two tribes, but the tax compact created controversy. The Keetoowah Band refused to allow the Cherokee Nation to collect taxes from its members[129] and began a policy of requiring their tribal members to withdraw from the Cherokee Nation, claiming to be the "true" tribe representing Cherokee people.[130] Mankiller, whose administration had established a district court to deal with the problem of Indian country being in federal jurisdiction rather than falling under state or local law enforcement, began a practice in late 1990 of negotiating cross-deputation agreements with law enforcement agencies and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service. (Cross-deputation became formally authorized in April 1991).[129] Raids conducted by county officials and Cherokee Marshals on 14 smoke shops licensed by the Keetoowah Band were carried out in the fall of 1990. Officials of the band failed to obtain a restraining order against the Cherokee Nation and took their grievance to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Unable to resolve the matter, the federal courts stepped in and ruled that the smoke shops of the Keetoowah Band were not exempt from state taxes.[139]
Principal Chief, second elected term (1991–1995)
In March 1991, Mankiller announced her candidacy for the next election[146] and shortly thereafter was invited to meet with other Indian leaders at the White House with President George H. W. Bush. Bush's officials, unlike Reagan's, were receptive to input from tribal leaders, and Mankiller hoped that a new era of "government-to-government relationships" would follow.[147] In the June election, she won 83% of the vote.[146][148] One of her first actions was to participate in a conference on educational programs for Native Americans, where she strongly opposed centralizing Indian education. Similarly, she opposed legislation proposed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives to collect cigarette taxes on products sold at Indian smoke shops to non-Indians.[131] In the continuing battle over compensation for the loss of access to mineral rights owned by the tribe in the Arkansas River, Mankiller estimated that one-third of her time as chief was spent on trying to obtain a settlement.[149]
During the school term of 1991–1992, Mankiller's administration revived the tribal
Mankiller was vocal in her disapproval of relaxing the rigorous Bureau of Indian Affairs' processes for tribal recognition,[157] a stance for which she was frequently criticized.[158] In 1993, she wrote to then-governor of Georgia Zell Miller, protesting the state recognition of groups claiming Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) ancestry.[157] She and other tribal leaders among the Five Civilized Tribes believed that the state recognition process could allow some groups to falsely claim Native heritage. During the congressional hearings on reform of the tribal recognition policies in Washington, D.C., Mankiller stated her opposition to any reform that would weaken the recognition process.[159] During her tenure as chief, the Cherokee tribal council passed two resolutions to bar those without a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) from enrolling in the tribe. The 1988 Rules and Regulations of the Cherokee Registration Committee required applicants to possess a federal certification that they had ancestry linking them to the Dawes Rolls.[160] The 1992 Act Relating to the Process of Enrolling as a Member of the Cherokee Nation enacted the policy into law, effectively barring Cherokee Freedmen from citizenship.[161] Mankiller had reaffirmed "Swimmer's order on CDIBs and voting. But in 2004, Lucy Allen, a Freedman descendant, took the matter to the Cherokee Supreme Court, and the court, in a split decision, said that the descendants of Freemen were, in fact, Cherokee, could apply to be enrolled, and should have the right to vote."[162]
In 1992, Mankiller endorsed
In 1995, Mankiller was diagnosed with lymphoma and chose not to run again, largely due to health problems.[170][171] Because of the chemotherapy, Mankiller had to forgo the immunosuppressive drugs she had been taking since her transplant.[172] When George Bearpaw was disqualified as a candidate, Joe Byrd succeeded her as Principal Chief. Mankiller refused to attend his inauguration, on the grounds that the disqualification of his rival was based on an expunged conviction of assault.[173] Fearing that Byrd would fire the staff she had hired, Mankiller authorized severance packages for the workers in her final days in office.[174] A lawsuit was filed by the new Chief on behalf of the Cherokee Nation against Mankiller, alleging embezzlement of tribal funds of $300,000 paid out to tribal officials and department heads who left at the end of her term in 1995. Cherokee Nation v. Mankiller was withdrawn by a vote of the tribal council.[174][175] Reflecting on her chieftainship, Mankiller said, "We've had daunting problems in many critical areas, but I believe in the old Cherokee injunction to 'be of a good mind'. Today it's called positive thinking".[176] When Mankiller left office, the population of the Cherokee Nation had increased from 68,000 to 170,000 citizens.[70] The tribe was generating annual revenues of approximately $25 million from a variety of sources, including factories, retail stores, restaurants and bingo operations. She had secured federal assistance of $125 million annually to assist with education, health, housing and employment programs. Having obtained the tribe's grant for "self-governance", federal oversight of tribal funds was minimized.[177]
Return to activism (1996–2010)
Byrd's administration became embroiled in a constitutional crisis, which he blamed on Mankiller, stating that her failure to attend his inauguration and lack of mentoring divided the tribe and left him without experienced advisors.[178] His supporters also alleged that Mankiller was behind attempts to remove Byrd from office,[179] an allegation she denied. She had remained silent on Byrd's administration until he accused her of heading a conspiracy.[174] Two months after Byrd was accused of improperly using federal funds, and a month after he blamed his administration's issues on Mankiller, she went to Washington with her predecessor, Swimmer, to ask that the federal authorities allow the tribe to sort out their own problems.[180] Despite calls from the US Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, for congressional intervention and Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe's desire for presidential action, Mankiller continued to maintain that the problem was one of inexperienced leadership, in which she did not want to be involved.[181] When an independent group of legal analysts, known as the "Massad Commission", was assembled in 1997 to evaluate the problems in Byrd's administration, Mankiller, in spite of her ongoing health concerns, was called to testify. She reiterated at the hearings that she believed the problems stemmed from poor advisors and the Chief's lack of experience.[179]
After her term as chief, in 1996, Mankiller became a visiting professor at Dartmouth College, where she taught in the Native American Studies program as part of the school's Montgomery Fellows program.[70][170] That year, she was honored with the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from Hobart and William Smith Colleges for her exemplary service to humanity.[182] After a semester,[145] she began traveling on a national lecture tour, speaking on health care, tribal sovereignty, women's rights and cancer awareness.[183] She spoke to various civic organizations,[184] tribal gatherings,[185] universities[186][187] and women's groups.[188][189] In 1997, she received an honorary degree from Smith College.[190] In 1998, President Clinton awarded Mankiller the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.[70][170] Shortly after that, she had a second kidney failure and received a second transplant, from her niece, Virlee Williamson.[170] As previously, she immediately returned to work, resuming her lecture tours[187] and working simultaneously on four books. In 1999 Mankiller was diagnosed with breast cancer[171] and underwent a double-lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment.[191] That same year, The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History, co-edited by Mankiller, was published.[188]
In 2002, Mankiller contributed to the book That Takes Ovaries!: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts,[192] and in 2004, she co-authored Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women.[163] The following year, she worked with the Oklahoma Breast Cancer Summit to encourage early screening and raise awareness on the disease.[193] In 2006, when Mankiller, along with other Native American leaders, was asked to send a pair of shoes to the Heard Museum for the exhibit Sole Stories: American Indian Footwear, she sent a simple pair of walking shoes. She chose the shoes because she had worn them all over the world, including trips from Brazil to China, and because they conveyed the normalcy of her life as well as her durability, steadfastness and determination.[194] In 2007, Mankiller gave the Centennial Lecture in the Humanities for Oklahoma's 100th anniversary of statehood. After the lecture, she was honored with the inaugural Oklahoma Humanities Award by the Oklahoma Humanities Council.[195] She continued her lecture tours and scholarship, and in September 2009 was named the first Sequoyah Institute Fellow at Northeastern State University.[196][197]
Death and legacy
In March 2010, her husband announced that Mankiller was terminally ill with
Mankiller's papers are housed in the Western History Collection at the
A 2013 feature film, The Cherokee Word for Water, tells the story of the Bell waterline project that helped launch Mankiller's political career and started her friendship with her future husband, Charlie Soap. In the film, Mankiller is portrayed by actress Kimberly Norris Guerrero, and Soap is portrayed by actor Moses Brings Plenty. The film, produced by Kristina Kiehl and Soap, was a dream that involved more than 20 years of planning and fundraising. It was important to Mankiller that the story of the resilience of Native people be the focus of the film. The Mankiller Foundation, named in her honor, which focuses on educational, community and economic development projects, was involved in the production.[210][211] In 2015, the Cherokee Nation completed construction on an addition to the Wilma P. Mankiller Health Center, located in Stilwell, doubling its size and updating its equipment. The center, one of the busiest of the eight hospitals in the Cherokee Nation Health Services system, serves approximately 120,000 patients annually.[212] In 2017 a documentary film, Mankiller, produced by Valerie RedHorse Mohl, was released. Through interviews with those who knew her and archival records, the film tells the story of Mankiller's life and her time as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.[213][214] In 2018, Mankiller became one of the honorees in the first induction ceremony held by the National Native American Hall of Fame.[215]
In 2021, it was announced that Mankiller, Maya Angelou, Sally Ride, Adelina Otero-Warren and Anna May Wong were each selected to have their likeness appear on a quarter-dollar coin[216] as a part of the United States Mint's "American Women Quarters" Program.[217]
In 2023, Mattel produced a Wilma Mankiller doll for their Barbie Inspiring Women series.[218]
Selected works
- Mankiller, Wilma (1985). "Keeping Pace With the Rest of the World". Southern Exposure. Durham, North Carolina: Institute for Southern Studies. ISBN 978-0-912-67892-4.
- Mankiller, Wilma P. (1988). The chief cooks: traditional Cherokee recipes. Muskogee, Oklahoma: Hoffman Printing Company. OCLC 25384767.
- ISBN 978-1-55516-975-6.
- Mankiller, Wilma (Spring 1991). "Education and Native Americans: Entering the Twenty-First Century on Our Own Terms". National Forum. 71 (2). Baton Rouge, Louisiana:
- Mankiller, Wilma; ISBN 978-0-312-09868-1.
- Mankiller, Wilma P.; Mink, Gwendolyn; ISBN 978-0-618-00182-8.
- Mankiller, Wilma (2002). "Returning Home". In Solomon, Rivka (ed.). That Takes Ovaries!: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts. New York, New York: Three Rivers Press. pp. 64–66. ISBN 978-0-609-80659-3.
- Mankiller, Wilma Pearl (2004). Every Day is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women. Introduction by ISBN 978-1-55591-516-2.
- Mankiller, Wilma (2008). "Introduction". In Hurtado, Albert L. (ed.). Reflections on American Indian History: Honoring the Past, Building a Future. Norman, Oklahoma: ISBN 978-0-8061-3896-1.
Notes
- ^ In her autobiography, Wilma Mankiller wrote that her maternal great grandparents William and Sarah Sitton, had migrated from North Carolina to Georgia and in 1891 had settled in Wauhillau, Indian Territory, bringing their son Robert Bailey Sitton with them. In 1903, Robert met and married Pearl Halady, who was in Indian Territory visiting friends. Pearl was from Washington County, Arkansas, where she lived with her half-sister, Ida Mae Scism Jordan. Robert and Pearl's youngest child, Clara Irene Sitton, Wilma's mother, was born on September 18, 1921, in Rocky Mountain, Oklahoma.[10]
- ^ Also in Mankiller's autobiography, she wrote that her paternal great-great grandfather was Ka-skun-nee Mankiller, who established the family surname. Ka-skun-nee married Lucy Matoy with whom he had several children; one of whom was Jacob Mankiller, born in 1853. Jacob married Susan Teehee-Bearpaw and their oldest child was John Mankiller, Wilma's grandfather. John married Bettie Bolin Bendabout Canoe, whose Cherokee name was Quatie. John and Quatie, had a son, Charley, born November 15, 1914, who was Wilma's father.[17]
- ^ The 1983 election was memorable, not only because it was the first time a woman had been elected,[91] but also because it was the first time Cherokee Freedmen had been excluded from voting. The Cherokee Constitution of 1976 specified that in Section 1 of Article III that "All members of the Cherokee Nation must be citizens as proven by reference to the Dawes Commission Rolls".[92] While ostensibly this could have been interpreted to mean any person on the three Dawes Rolls,[93][94] in 1977–1978, the voter registration committee and the tribal membership committee both introduced requirements for voters and citizens to obtain a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) from the U.S. government before enrollment would be allowed.[92][95] Prior to the election, the BIA area director in Muskogee, Oklahoma wrote in a memorandum that Freedmen without a CDIB could not be candidates for office, but were eligible as voters.[96] When Freedman voters were turned away at the polls, they filed suit in 1984, naming Swimmer; the tribal registrar; a tribal council member; the tribal election committee; the United States, Office of the President; The Department of the Interior; the Office of the Secretary of State; the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and three BIA employees.[97] At the time of the lawsuit, Mankiller stated that she believed "freedmen should not be given membership in the Cherokee tribe", as membership was reserved for those with Cherokee blood.[94] Many tribal members at the time believed that one-quarter blood quantum should be required for tribal membership.[98]
References
Citations
- ^ "'The Cherokee Word for Water' voted best American Indian film". November 25, 2015.
- ^ "US Mint to issue quarters honoring notable American women". Associated Press. June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
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Further reading
- Janda, Sarah Epple (2007). Beloved Women: The political lives of Ladonna Harris and Wilma Mankiller. DeKalb, Illinois: ISBN 978-0-875-80372-2.
- Johansen, Bruce E.; Grinde, Donald A. Jr. (1998). The encyclopedia of Native American biography: Six hundred life stories of important people, from Powhatan to Wilma Mankiller (1st Da Capo Press ed.). New York, New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306808708.
External links
- Mankiller documentary by Valerie Red-Horse Mohl
- Voices of Oklahoma interview with Wilma Mankiller. First person interview conducted with Wilma Mankiller on August 13, 2009
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- National Women's History Museum page