In
this week’s module, I learned about Wilma Mankiller. Wilma Mankiller was the
first female chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and served in that capacity
from 1985 to 1995. She is most famous for being awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom which is the nation’s highest civilian award, in 1998 by then
President Bill Clinton. She is also the author of the best-selling book “Mankiller: A Chief and Her People”. Although
I never heard of her before taking this course, she clearly is a well-respected
leader in Native American culture. One thing I found interesting was with regards
to her early childhood. She stated
that her family was moved to San Francisco
as part of a Native American relocation program. I found it horrible that they
moved her and her family from their homeland and moved them into a regular
housing project under a false premise in order to remove her people from their
homelands. The fact that they moved them into housing projects makes it seem as
though they were intent on having Native Americans live in poverty and making
it harder for them to become successful. With that being said, I find great
pleasure in learning about Wilma Mankiller and how she grew up in these housing
projects and made something of herself. She became a very prominent figure in
Native American society, particularly within the Cherokee Nation. She stated
that “poor people have more tenacity for solving their own problems than most
people give them credit for”. I believe this is a strong statement and she was living
proof that it is true. So often in society, poor people are viewed as “leaches”
living off of government assistance and not taking care of their own problems.
Wilma Mankiller’s life proves this theory wrong, she grew up in a poor
community and became successful and solved her own problems to achieve
greatness in life.
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 https://nnidatabase.org/video/wilma-mankiller-governance-leadership-and-cherokee-nation
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. The idea of housing projects might look good on paper, it appears to be an alternative to living on a reservation where the poverty level is higher. 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.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, thank you for pointing out the title of the book that she wrote. I am likely to pick that up as a read in my spare time.
ReplyDeleteAs far as hearing about her personal story, it really made me cringe all that more about what the white man has done to the Native Americans over the years. She talked of the relocations that her tribe was forced to succumb to and the so called promises that were made for their land that never were fulfilled by the white man. Truly sad and horrific events that the Native Americans were forced to endure at the hands of the white man. Like you said above, Wilma Mankiller is an amazing person for being able to rise above all this and do wonderful things for both herself and her community.