Upon reviewing the interview of Wilma Mankiller, it
was clear that her main focus was not to point out all of the positive things
she had done for her Nation but to emphasize that it takes a whole group to
make a change. I believe this source was selected for review to project the positivizes
of Pan Indian’s visions. When people come together, changes can occur that
benefit groups.
Wilma Mankiller once said, “'That poor people have
more tenacity for solving their own problems than most people give them credit
for.” She was asked to elaborate on that especially with regard to rebuilding
Native American nations. She said that her family moved to San Francisco when
she was ten years old as part of a relocation program. They were moved into an
extremely low income housing project that encompassed mostly African Americans.
Mankiller pointed out that during hardships, such as people living in poor
conditions, there are certain individuals within groups that people tend to
gravitate towards for guidance and advice. She noticed this whether it was
within the African American groups or Native American groups. It is the sense
of community that brings people together and it’s their own experience that
makes them acutely aware of how to change their position in life.
She emphasized that while outsiders can help make
positive changes but the affected people have to also have the ability to
determine what their needs are (they know better than anyone). Rebuilding
nations can’t occur from just the top; everyone needs to be involved. While
it’s easy to depend on the government for various things, we all know that not
all of the Native American needs will be taken care of. So with that, change
has to come within. The people have to want to make things better and take the
steps to join together to rebuild and make their communities stronger.
Having us post
a blog that other people can see perhaps holds us a little more accountable for
our thoughts; also, if others can read it then perhaps more people can learn
from our posted blog instead of merely the other classroom participants.
Works Cited:
Mankiller, Wilma. "Governance, Leadership, and
the Cherokee Nation." Leading Native Nations interview series. Native
Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of
Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. September 29, 2008. Interview.
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ReplyDeleteTo your very good point, Wilma Mankiller truly was focused on the change that came from the people. While she may have facilitated the environment that encouraged and nurtured this level of change, she never pats herself on the back too much. In fact, her interviewer in this video calls out the fact that she (Mankiller) was awarded the presidential medal of freedom, receiving this award for then President, Bill Clinton.
ReplyDeleteMankiller facilitates an environment among tribal members by demonstrating strong support for culminating the many social, economic, and cultural aspects of Cherokee Nation consisting of over 240,000 members, to find common ground. And within that challenge, her role as a leader was to unify members not as social or economic classes, but at Cherokee Nation members, a unified identity that all could relate to regardless of their status, a stratification of sorts, as Mankiller refers to it. This stratification is perhaps one of the biggest contributing factors in the continual revitalization process that Cherokee tribe, as well as other tribes have gone through historically.
Mankiller truly was a great Chief and leader of the Cherokee tribe. She firmly believes in the will of the people, and that if change is to happen, then it must start from within one's self, one's tribe, one's community. And she uses her leadership influence to foster this environment among Cherokee nation.
References:
Mankiller, Wilma. "Governance, Leadership, and the Cherokee Nation." Leading Native Nations interview series. Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona. Tucson, Arizona. September 29, 2008. Interview.