89 Facts About Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was a Native American activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Wilma Mankiller developed revenue streams, including factories, retail stores, restaurants and bingo operations, while establishing self-governance, allowing the tribe to manage its own finances.

When she retired from politics, Wilma Mankiller returned to her activist role as an advocate working to improve the image of Native Americans and combat the misappropriation of native heritage, by authoring books including a bestselling autobiography, Wilma Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, and giving numerous lectures on health care, tribal sovereignty, women's rights and cancer awareness.

Wilma Mankiller died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer, and was honored with many local, state and national awards, including the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was born on November 18,1945, in the Hastings Indian Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to Clara Irene and Charley Mankiller.

Wilma Mankiller's father was a full-blooded Cherokee, whose ancestors had been forced to relocate to Indian Territory from Tennessee over the Trail of Tears in the 1830s.

Wilma Mankiller's mother descended from Dutch-Irish and English immigrants who had first settled in Virginia and North Carolina in the 1700s.

When Charley and Irene married in 1937, they settled on Charley's father, John Wilma Mankiller's allotment, known as "Wilma Mankiller Flats", near Rocky Mountain in Adair County, Oklahoma, which he had received in 1907 as part of the government policy of forced assimilation for Native American people.

Wilma Mankiller had five older siblings: Louis Donald "Don", Frieda Marie, Robert Charles, Frances Kay and John David.

Wilma Mankiller's five other siblings, Linda Jean, Richard Colson, Vanessa Lou, James Ray and William Edward, were born over the next 12 years.

Wilma Mankiller went to school through the fifth grade in a three-room schoolhouse, in Rocky Mountain.

The family spoke both English and Cherokee at home; even Wilma Mankiller's mother spoke Cherokee.

Wilma Mankiller's mother canned food and used flour sacks to make clothes for the children, whom she immersed in Cherokee heritage.

Wilma Mankiller's grandmother made her return to Potrero, but after Wilma continued to run away, her parents decided to let her live on the farm for a year.

Wilma Mankiller remained indifferent to school, where she struggled with math and science, but graduated from high school in June 1963.

Wilma Mankiller found him sophisticated, and despite her parents' discomfort with the union, the two married in Reno, Nevada, on November 13,1963, and then honeymooned in Chicago.

The occupation inspired Wilma Mankiller to become involved in civil rights activism.

Wilma Mankiller began to meet with other Native Americans who had participated in the Indian Center, becoming active in the groups supporting the Occupation.

The Occupation lasted 19 months, and during that time, Wilma Mankiller learned organizational skills and how to do paralegal research.

Wilma Mankiller had been encouraged by other activists to continue her studies, and began planning a career.

On her father's death in 1971, the Wilma Mankiller family returned to Oklahoma for his burial.

Closer to home, Wilma Mankiller founded East Oakland's Native American Youth Center, where she served as director.

In 1976, Wilma Mankiller's mother returned to Oklahoma, prompting Wilma Mankiller to move as well with her two daughters.

Wilma Mankiller worked on home health care, the Indian child welfare protocols, language services, a senior citizens program and a youth shelter.

On November 9,1979, on her way back to Tahlequah from Fayetteville, Wilma Mankiller's vehicle was struck by an oncoming car.

Wilma Mankiller suffered broken ribs as well as breaks in her left leg and ankle, and both her face and right leg were crushed.

Wilma Mankiller dropped things, was unable to grip items, her voice tired after a few moments of speaking.

Doctors thought that the problems were related to the accident, but one day while watching a muscular dystrophy telethon, Wilma Mankiller thought her symptoms sounded similar.

Wilma Mankiller called the muscular dystrophy center, was referred to a specialist, and was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.

Wilma Mankiller's approach was one of self-help, which allowed citizens to identify their problems and gain control of the challenges they faced.

Wilma Mankiller wanted to focus on small rural communities, improving housing and health care.

Wilma Mankiller received death threats, her tires were slashed, and a billboard with her likeness was burned.

Wilma Mankiller won by absentee voters in a run-off election for the deputy chief post against Agnes Cowen and became the first woman elected deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Wilma Mankiller chose to avoid involvement in tribal legislation to minimize the hostility to her election, instead concentrating on areas of government that the council did not control.

Wilma Mankiller, who supported a middle-of-the-road approach, expanded the Cherokee Heritage Center and the Institute for Cherokee Literacy.

Wilma Mankiller persuaded the tribal council to change the way that council members were elected so that rather than at-large candidates, potential members came from newly created districts.

Wilma Mankiller succeeded him as the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, when she was sworn into office on December 5,1985.

Almost immediately, the press coverage on Wilma Mankiller made her an international celebrity and improved the perception of Native Americans throughout the country.

Wilma Mankiller was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of New England and received a citation for leadership from Harvard University.

Wilma Mankiller resigned, effective with the end of January 1987, which generated further criticism from Mankiller's opponents, who saw the delay as a tactic for Soap to qualify for retirement benefits.

Wilma Mankiller persuaded voters that the tribe could cooperate with state and federal governments to negotiate favorable terms to improve their opportunities.

Weeks before the election, Wilma Mankiller was hospitalized for her kidney disease.

Wilma Mankiller's opponents argued that she was medically unfit to lead the tribe.

Wilma Mankiller won the run-off, but within a week one of her supporters, who had been elected to the Tribal Council, died.

The tribal election committee voted to nullify the absentee ballots for the new council membership, and Wilma Mankiller petitioned the Judicial Appeals Tribunal, which required a recount including the absentee voters.

Wilma Mankiller used the press surrounding her election to combat the negative stereotypes about Native people, stressing their cultural heritage and strengths.

Wilma Mankiller was selected as Newsmaker of the Year by the Association for Women in Communications and as Ms.

Wilma Mankiller recommended that the job center be housed in the financially insolvent motel, but initially the Tribal Council denied her permission.

Wilma Mankiller was able to reverse their decision by promising to take the issue directly to a vote of the tribal members.

Wilma Mankiller expanded community development programs, using the Bell Project model, and in 1987 the Kenwood Project won the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Certificate of National Merit.

Wilma Mankiller rejected requests for the tribe to store nuclear waste, given its potential to harm the environment.

Wilma Mankiller established employment training opportunities and programs that offered financial and technical expertise to tribal members who wanted to start their own small enterprises.

Wilma Mankiller backed the creation of a tribal electronic harness and cabling company, construction of a hydroelectric plant and a horticultural operation.

In December 1988, Wilma Mankiller's leadership was recognized with a national award bestowed by the Independent Sector, an umbrella group for non-profit organizations.

Wilma Mankiller welcomed the initiative, which reinforced intergovernmental cooperation and increased self-determination.

Wilma Mankiller was recognized with an honorary degree from Yale University in 1990 and from Dartmouth College in 1991.

Wilma Mankiller had hoped to reconcile the differences between the two tribes, but the tax compact created controversy.

Bush's officials, unlike Reagan's, were receptive to input from tribal leaders, and Wilma Mankiller hoped that a new era of "government-to-government relationships" would follow.

Wilma Mankiller focused on issues of identity throughout her second term.

Wilma Mankiller worked with tribal registrar Lee Fleming and a staff member Richard Allen to document groups which claimed Cherokee heritage, and they compiled a list of 269 associations throughout the country.

Wilma Mankiller was vocal in her disapproval of relaxing the rigorous Bureau of Indian Affairs' processes for tribal recognition, a stance for which she was frequently criticized.

In 1992, Wilma Mankiller endorsed Bill Clinton for president, but did not donate any money to his campaign.

Wilma Mankiller was invited to take part in an economic conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, and participated in his transition team for the presidency.

Steinem and Wilma Mankiller became close friends, and Steinem later married her partner David Bale in a ceremony at Wilma Mankiller Flats.

That same year, Wilma Mankiller was invited by Clinton to moderate the Nation-to-Nation Summit, in which leaders of all 545 federally recognized tribes in the United States were assembled to discuss a variety of topics.

In 1995, Wilma Mankiller was diagnosed with lymphoma and chose not to run again, largely due to health problems.

Wilma Mankiller refused to attend his inauguration, on the grounds that the disqualification of his rival was based on an expunged conviction of assault.

Cherokee Nation v Mankiller was withdrawn by a vote of the tribal council.

When Wilma Mankiller left office, the population of the Cherokee Nation had increased from 68,000 to 170,000 citizens.

Byrd's administration became embroiled in a constitutional crisis, which he blamed on Wilma Mankiller, stating that her failure to attend his inauguration and lack of mentoring divided the tribe and left him without experienced advisors.

Wilma Mankiller's supporters alleged that Mankiller was behind attempts to remove Byrd from office, an allegation she denied.

Wilma Mankiller had remained silent on Byrd's administration until he accused her of heading a conspiracy.

Two months after Byrd was accused of improperly using federal funds, and a month after he blamed his administration's issues on Wilma Mankiller, she went to Washington with her predecessor, Swimmer, to ask that the federal authorities allow the tribe to sort out their own problems.

Wilma Mankiller reiterated at the hearings that she believed the problems stemmed from poor advisors and the Chief's lack of experience.

Wilma Mankiller spoke to various civic organizations, tribal gatherings, universities and women's groups.

In 1999 Wilma Mankiller was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double-lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment.

Wilma Mankiller chose the shoes because she had worn them all over the world, including trips from Brazil to China, and because they conveyed the normalcy of her life as well as her durability, steadfastness and determination.

In 2007, Wilma Mankiller gave the Centennial Lecture in the Humanities for Oklahoma's 100th anniversary of statehood.

Wilma Mankiller continued her lecture tours and scholarship, and in September 2009 was named the first Sequoyah Institute Fellow at Northeastern State University.

In March 2010, her husband announced that Wilma Mankiller was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer.

Wilma Mankiller died on April 6,2010, from cancer at her home in rural Adair County, Oklahoma.

Wilma Mankiller was buried in the family cemetery, Echota Cemetery, in Stilwell, and a few days later was honored with a Congressional Resolution from the US House of Representatives.

Wilma Mankiller was posthumously presented with the Drum Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Five Civilized Tribes.

Wilma Mankiller's papers are housed in the Western History Collection at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman.

Wilma Mankiller was an inspiration to Native and non-Native Americans and a role model for women and girls.

At the 2010 annual women's conference hosted by Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations to promote and empower Indigenous women's leadership, for which Wilma Mankiller had been a founding board member, a scholarship was named in her honor to pay travel expenses for women to attend the gathering.

The Wilma Mankiller Foundation, named in her honor, which focuses on educational, community and economic development projects, was involved in the production.

In 2017 a documentary film, Wilma Mankiller, produced by Valerie RedHorse Mohl, was released.

In 2018, Wilma Mankiller became one of the honorees in the first induction ceremony held by the National Native American Hall of Fame.