Wilma Mankiller worked for several years as a leading
advocate for the Cherokee people, and became the first woman to serve as their
principal chief in 1985. Throughout her discussion in the video assigned in
this module “Governance, Leadership, and the Cherokee Nation”, you can tell
that her life experiences gave her the empathy in order to successfully lead
from the front, but also toughness to make judgments and decisions that upset some
with a softer sensibility. Wilma Mankiller was not only an advocate for the
Cherokee people, but she was also a spokeswoman for women rights.
Wilma Mankiller was born in Tahlequah , Oklahoma San
Francisco helped her relate to the current struggles
of her Native American people. She worked to improve the tribal nation’s health
care, education system and local government. She decided not to seek
re-election in 1995 due to her declining health health. But her impact was set
in stone and will be felt for generations.
Wilma Pearl Mankiller was a descendant of the Cherokee
Indians, the Native Americans who were forced to leave their homelands; she was
also of Dutch and Irish descent. She grew up on Mankiller Flats, located near Rocky Mountain , Oklahoma ,
before moving with her family in the mid-1950s to San Francisco , California
Using this form of blogging has brought a new experience to my learning, in the beginning I felt it was very close to our requirements to the formal discussions in our class. But after participating in a couple, I found that it was the interactions with the other classmates that brought a new aspect to the learning. It was this kind of interaction I feel Wilma Mankiller was trying to enforce and motivate her Cherokee tribal community to learn. Greater strengths are with a community together, if its a course in college, or a tribal community trying to overcome discrimination. The strength will come in teamwork.
Work 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
Wilma was an amazing leader. You mentioned that she decided not to seek re-election in 1995 due to her declining health. One of the items I though was really showed dedication in her video was her story regarding the importance of starting her work in tribal government in 1977 until the Cherokee Nation signed their first self-governance agreement. It was so important to her that although she was in a hospital in Boston recovering from kidney transplant surgery, she insisted FedEx deliver the documents to her in the hospital, getting out of bed to sign because she considered it so critical and so important for her people!
ReplyDeleteShe reminds me of that old school toughness!
ReplyDeleteMs. Mankiller was a perfect example of how a leader guides people to help make their community better. She was an amazing example of someone that did not allow her struggles and hardship break her will to succeed. The greatest part of her story is that she brought her people to success through hard work and motivation. She is living proof that there is always an opportunity to improve if you work together.
ReplyDeleteit’s important to remind everyday Americans that tribal governments existed before there was a United States government and that many tribes, including the Cherokee Nation, had treaties with other governments before they had a treaty with the first U.S. colony. So the definition of sovereignty is to have control over your own lands and resources and assets, and to have control over your own vision for the future, and to be able to have absolute, to absolutely determine your own destiny."
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share with you a question and answer from the video and Interview with Wilma Mankiller a great indigenoues leader. In this question and answer, it highlights the importance of what we have been learning about all semester. Efforts still need to be made in order to live in a civilized nation. Even after all this time a lot of Americans still dont have a clear understanding of native history or culture. Natives are stereotyped and dip acted wrongly in movies and media. With our knowledge from this course we can educate those around us. Even one person who is willing to learn and understand is a step forward.
sorry please ignore the top portion! wrong quote!
DeleteThese days you’re dedicating a lot of your time and energy to raising awareness about the importance of Native Nations, providing the mainstream media and the general public a clear balanced picture of contemporary Native America. In particular, the amazing stories of success, innovation and renaissance that are taking place across Indigenous Country. Why is this educational effort so critical to Native Nations ability to achieve their nation-building goals?"
Mankiller: "It’s critical because even after hundreds of years of living in our former towns and villages, most Americans don’t know anything about us and there’s not accurate information about Native people in the popular culture, there’s not accurate information about Native people in literature, there’s not accurate information in secondary schools and universities. And because there’s so little accurate information about Native people, a lot of nonsensical stereotypes get developed. And because of those stereotypes, every time a tribal leader goes to the United States Congress and particularly for new members of Congress, they have to educate them about the history of Native people in this country. And so there’s still a number of people who want us to be like we were three hundred years ago or something. And so I think that it’s critical; I actually see shaping public perception as a sovereignty protection issue because I believe very strongly that public perception shapes public policy and that unless we take control of our own image and help frame our own issues and change the image of our people, that it will ultimately affect public policy."