Wilma Mankiller
First female chief of the Cherokee Nation
We live in a society where we put things into specific categories, and that's where they live. That's not always the right thing to do. One of those things is how we celebrate people. We have designated months of celebration for pretty much everyone. We forget people can be celebrated regularly and not just in their designated months.
This series will celebrate minority women. Even the months that celebrate their ethnicity minority women are less celebrated. This series is to normalize the celebration of minority women. In this article, we will talk about Wilma Mankiller. She was an amazing woman and someone who should be in the history books.
On November 18, 1945, Wilma Mankiller was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma to Clara Irene (Nee Sutton) and Charley Mankiller. Charley was a full-blooded Cherokee. His ancestors had been forced to relocate to Indian territory from Tennessee over the trails of tears. Clara was a descendent of Scotts-Irish and English immigrants who settled in Virginia and North Carolina in the 1700s.
When Wilma was 11 years old, she and her family were moved to San Franciso, California…
