Wilma Mankiller

BORN: November 18, 1945 • Tahlequah, Oklahoma

Native American political leader, social activist

Wilma Mankiller, a member of the Cherokee Nation (Native American tribal government located in Oklahoma), became a social activist in the 1960s, seeking an end to prejudice and discrimination against Native Americans in the United States. When she became Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985, Mankiller was the first female chief of a major tribal government in the United States. The Cherokee Nation was the second largest tribe in the United States. Only the Navajo had more members. During her ten years as Principal Chief, Mankiller was a driving force in the economic development of the tribe, with a goal of becoming economically self-sufficient.

"Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief."

Native American poverty

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was born at Tahlequah, Oklahoma, in November 1945. Tahlequah was the capitol of the Cherokee Nation. Her father, Charlie Mankiller, was of Cherokee ancestry and her mother, Irene Mankiller, of Dutch-Irish. She had six brothers and four sisters. Her family had a farm on Mankiller Flats in remote Adair County, where she grew up. The name Mankiller came from an old military title acquired by one of Wilma's ancestors, reflecting the rank of a person responsible for protecting a village.

Mankiller's great-grandfather was among sixteen thousand Native Americans who were forced to relocate as white settlement spread throughout the southeastern United States. They were sent to newly set aside lands for Indians west of the Mississippi River in the late 1830s. The Native Americans affected were primarily members of Indian tribes living in the Southeastern United States referred to by American white society as the Five Civilized Tribes for their pursuit of farming, living in relatively permanent villages, and ownership of slaves. They included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminoles. The U.S. government abandoned efforts to civilize, or develop, Indian peoples by forcing them to become full-time farmers. Instead, it adopted policies to isolate Indian peoples often through forced removals to new areas.

The 1830 Indian Removal Act led to mass relocations of those surviving Indian peoples still remaining east of the Mississippi River. By the end of 1836 some 6,000 Cherokee had voluntarily moved to the new territory set aside for them in the future state of Oklahoma. However, thousands refused to leave and remained in their traditional homelands of the Southeast. Finally, in March 1838 an American military force of 7,000 soldiers under the command of General Winfield Scott (1786–1866) began rounding up Cherokee in Georgia. From there he moved to Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama. In all some 17,000 Cherokee were taken at gunpoint from their homes, not allowed to pack or take belongings. They were first taken to gathering areas in preparation for the long march to the west. The 1,800-mile, six-month forced march became known as the Trail of Tears. They traveled by boat, foot, and wagon. One-fourth of those who embarked on the long wintertime march died along the way. Many more died after arriving in the newly established Indian Territory that later became the state of Oklahoma. Mankiller's great-grandfather, John Mankiller, survived the ordeal. He was given the family farm in 1907, the year Oklahoma gained statehood, as part of the government settlement for the forced relocation of the Cherokee.

A move to California

After the Mankiller farm suffered two straight years of drought (little to no rain), the family decided in 1956 to accept an offer through the U.S. government Indian relocation program to move to San Francisco and start a new life. Mankiller was ten years old when they moved. Their experience in California proved very difficult. Wilma's father was never able to get stable employment as promised by the program, and they faced very strong prejudice. Even her name attracted taunts in school. A family tragedy occurred in 1960, when one of her brothers died from burns suffered in a home accident in the state of Washington, where he lived and worked as an agricultural laborer.

After graduating from high school, Mankiller enrolled in Skyline Junior College in San Bruno, California, and then switched to San Francisco State College where she attended classes from 1963 to 1965 before leaving without graduating. Mankiller studied sociology and found a job while in school as a social worker. At San Francisco State College she met Hector Hugo Olaya de Bardi. They married in November 1963 when she was still just eighteen years of age. They had two daughters in the mid-1960s. In 1971, Mankiller's father died in San Francisco of a kidney disease. The family took him back to Oklahoma to be buried. Mankiller herself would soon suffer the same kidney disease, but would be able to treat it.

Social activist

The hardships and disappointments Mankiller faced growing up in Oklahoma and San Francisco inspired a social activist spirit. She met other young American Indian activists at San Francisco State who formed an organization known as United Indians of All Tribes. Among other activities and protests, these activists adopted a plan to occupy and reclaim Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay as Indian country. The leader was Richard Oakes (1941–1972), a San Francisco State student and member of the Mohawk tribe. The Alcatraz occupation (see box) inspired not only Mankiller, but a new Indian rights movement called the American Indian Movement (AIM). This movement would join other social movements active at the time such as those centered around civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights. She decided to commit her life to helping American Indian peoples.

Mankiller participated in other demonstrations in the San Francisco area and also served as a volunteer for San Francisco attorney Aubrey Grossman, who defended American Indians in legal cases. She also worked in preschool and adult education programs for the Pit River Tribe in Northern California. During the early 1970s, she gained skills in community organization and program development. Mankiller's time-consuming and emotional commitment to social justice and making a difference eventually strained her marriage. In 1974, she divorced and became a single parent and returned to her ancestral home in Oklahoma in 1976.

A return to Oklahoma

Upon returning to her home, Mankiller found a job as community development director of the Cherokee Nation. She tackled various rural development projects that involved repairing housing for the poor and improving water systems.

Mankiller also resumed her academic studies. She enrolled in the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities, where she earned a degree in social science in 1977. She then entered graduate school, majoring in community planning at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 1979. This meant a long commute from her home in Oklahoma. One morning when returning from school, Mankiller was struck in a head-on collision with another car that was passing on a curve. Mankiller was seriously injured and barely survived. The driver of the other car, who died in the crash, was one of her best friends. Mankiller persevered through almost twenty operations to repair the injuries from the accident. Her leg was barely saved from amputation.

Indian Occupation of Alcatraz Island

Cherokee political leader Wilma Mankiller began her fight against ethnic and racial prejudice as a student at San Francisco State University in the late 1960s. In 1969, a group of American Indians from many different tribes, who called themselves United Indians of All Tribes, seized control of Alcatraz Island. They occupied the island for eighteen months. Alcatraz Island, located in the middle of San Francisco Bay, had been used as a U.S. military installation after 1850 and was converted to a federal maximum security prison in 1934. In 1963, the prison operation was closed and it became a historical site. The United Indians claimed that the island should be returned to Indian ownership as it had been prior to 1850. The protest group also wanted to establish a native education and cultural center there. The Indians were finally forcibly removed by federal law enforcement agents, and many were arrested. However, the dramatic occupation inspired the beginning of the American Indian Movement and the social activism of many people like Mankiller. American Indian groups continued using the island for ceremonies into the twenty-first century.

During her long period of recovery, she had time to reflect further on her life, and she deepened her spiritual commitment to helping others. However, other health issues followed in the aftermath of the accident. In 1980, Mankiller came down with myasthenia gravis, a serious condition that involves a deterioration or weakness of muscles.

Eventually Mankiller recovered from her injuries and was able to successfully treat the muscle disease. She resumed work for the Cherokee tribe, trying to improve the educational opportunities and economic conditions not only for the Cherokee Nation but for the region of northeastern Oklahoma in general. Her popularity increased as her programs, including community revitalization projects, brought national attention. Her reputation as an expert in community development became well established.

Government leadership

In 1983, Ross Swimmer, who had been serving as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma since 1975, asked Mankiller to run as his Deputy Chief in the next election. Mankiller accepted the invitation. The tribe consisted of seventy thousand tribal members and controlled approximately 45,000 acres of land in Oklahoma. During her candidacy, she faced considerable gender prejudice in the male-dominated tribal society of the Cherokee. She received repeated threats on her life and had her car tires slashed.

Despite the prejudices Mankiller experienced, she and Swimmer were victorious in the tribal elections. Mankiller took office on August 14, 1983, and served as Deputy Chief for over two years, until Swimmer received an appointment to be head of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D. C. Swimmer resigned his position and Mankiller was sworn in as Principal Chief on December 5, 1985. Her gender continued to be an issue at first, as some male tribal members held back support for her new programs. However, she soon won respect by showing her capable leadership skills, and dedication for tribal economic improvement. For example, Mankiller helped Cherokee members establish small businesses through creation of the Cherokee Nation Community Development Department and other programs.

A role model for women

Mankiller remarried in October 1986 to longtime friend Charlie Soap. Soap had been the tribal director of economic development before she took the position. In 1987, Mankiller received much satisfaction when she ran for the tribal leadership office on her own and won with 56 percent of the vote. Mankiller had clearly become accepted as a legitimate leader despite old gender prejudices.

Mankiller received many awards for her dedication to improving the lives of American Indians and being at the forefront of American Indian politics as a woman. She had become a role model for American Indian women, and the recognition she achieved reflected that. In 1986 she received the American Leadership Award from Harvard University in 1986 in recognition of her political leadership skills and was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame. She received an honorary degree from Yale University in 1990. Four years later, she entered the National Women's Hall of Fame in New York City and the general Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Health problems returned to plague Mankiller toward the end of the twentieth century. In 1990, she needed a kidney transplant to survive. Her brother Donald provided the kidney. Despite her health condition, she chose to run for another term of office in 1991. She won election once more, this time in a landslide victory that garnered 82 percent of the vote.

In 1993, Mankiller published an autobiography titled Mankiller: A Chief and Her People. The book made the national best-seller list. In the book, she provided a history of the Cherokee people. Mankiller also addressed the modern problems of the Cherokee Nation, including the need for improved opportunities for jobs, education, and healthcare. She identified the need to maintain and reinvigorate elements of Cherokee culture, such as Cherokee language. For that purpose, she established the Institute for Cherokee Literacy.

Retirement from tribal office

In August 1995, Mankiller decided not to run for reelection. She departed from her position as Principal Chief largely due to health problems and to pursue other, local issues. In 1998, U.S. president Bill Clinton (1946–; served 1993–2001) awarded Mankiller a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award given for distinguished service to society. She had clearly become the most popular Cherokee of the twentieth century. The population of the Cherokee increased from 55,000 to 156,000 during her tenure as leader. The tribe had around 1,200 employees and an annual budget over $75 million.

Mankiller remained active into the twenty-first century as an inspiration for others. In 2004, she published the book Every Day is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women. Female activist Gloria Steinem (1934–; see entry), who was married at Mankiller's home, wrote a foreword for the publication.

For More Information

BOOKS

Birchfield, D.L. The Trail of Tears. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004.

DeCapua, Sarah. The Cherokee. New York: Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish, 2006.

Dell, Pamela. Wilma Mankiller: Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books, 2006.

Elish, Dan. The Trail of Tears: The Story of the Cherokee Removal. New York: Benchmark Books/Marshall Cavendish, 2002.

Kucharczyk, Emily Rose. Wilma Mankiller: Native American Leader. Detroit, MI: Blackbirch Press, 2002.

Mankiller, Wilma. Mankiller: A Chief and Her People. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993.

Mankiller, Wilma. Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Pub., 2004.

Salas, Laura Purdie. The Trail of Tears, 1838. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Books, 2003.

WEB SITES

American Indian Movement. http://www.aimovement.org/ (accessed on December 11, 2006).

National Congress of American Indians. http://www.ncai.org/ (accessed on December 11, 2006).

"Wilma Mankiller Former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation." http://www.powersource.com/gallery/people/wilma.html (accessed on December 11, 2006).