Wilma Mankiller: Chief of the Cherokee and Fighter for Community Empowerment
She was an activist, advocate, and warrior.
“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. — Wilma Mankiller
Wilma Mankiller is a name most all native Oklahomans recognize. She blossomed from a little girl in poverty to Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, the second-largest tribe in the United States.
I remember hearing the name, Mankiller, in the news about the work she achieved in the Nation as an activist, promoting self-determinism, and Chief. However, controversy swirled around her from the election as the first female Chief to the expulsion of the descendants of the Freedmen from the tribe.
Activist
Mankiller, born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in 1945, was given the Cherokee name, A-ji-luhsgi, meaning flower. However, I believe she lived her life according to her Mankiller surname, which is a Cherokee warrior rank equivalent to a captain or major.
Mankiller’s family moved to California as part of the Federal Government’s attempt to urbanize Native people in the 1950s. Growing up in the activist movements of the 60s, Mankiller became involved in the…
