Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller (November 18, 1945 – April 6, 2010) is an inspiration, no matter what your heritage may be. One of eleven kids born to a full-blooded Cherokee father and white mother in a poor household, she is a true survivor. Her family resided on the Oklahoma reservation until they relocated to a poor housing project in San Fransisco in 1956, under the BIA's Indian Relocation Program...which was another "attempt to remove Native poeple from their homelands" (Mankiller, para 11). It was there, growing up in an isolated, poor community where she learned how people looked after one another. It was this unity within adversity that taught her the dynamics of interdependence and leadership within communities like it, such as the Cherokee reservation, where she returned to reside and lead as the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985.
Her main inspiration for leadership in activism came from her participation in the occupation of Alcatraz by the "Indians of All Tribes" in 1969. She became inspired by the leadership of John Trudell and Richard Oakes, in their "articulation of things she felt, but didn't know how to express" (Mankiller, para 15). In the 1970's, she returned to the Cherokee reservation and helped the poor community improve their living conditions by helping those in need and by actively participating in their own projects, building infrastructure such as waterlines and houses.
The constant theme within Mankiller's persona is the resilience of her people dating back to the treaty and removal era, culminating in the Trail of Tears from the southeast to Oklahoma, when 1/4 of her people died. She explained how the Cherokee rebuilt their families, culture, society, and government...and buildings, some of which are the oldest structures in Oklahoma. She then explained how white settlement of Oklahoma through the allotment process once again destroyed their community, forcing them to rebuild again, within a fragmented, much smaller territory. She effectively illustrated the resilience of the Cherokee Nation which has been destroyed and rebuilt itself over and over again. She led her people in the same spirit, rebuilding government and a self-sustainable community, sovereign and reinvigorated through tribal businesses and infrastructure.

Wilma Mankiller: Governance, Leadership and the Cherokee Nation. University of Arizona. Web. 2 July 2016. https://nnidatabase.org/video/wilma-mankiller-governance-leadership-and cherokee-nation

Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller was the first woman to become Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. In an interview with the University of Arizona's Leading Native Nations program, Mankiller gave an amazing statement about how the Cherokee are a revitalized tribe. "I can, and I believe very firmly that the Cherokee Nation is symbolic of other nations as well because I've seen the same sort of just heroic ability and to hold onto a sense of who we are as a people and rebuild our families and communities and governments again." She speaks of how the Cherokee were able to pick themselves up, dust off the dirt, and rebuild, over and over again. They didn't let the circumstances stop them. They were able to achieve amazing things like building the first school west of the Mississippi River and even create a government system where their buildings are still used today.

This spoke volumes to me because it ties right into my voice, Tecumseh, and his message of unity. The Cherokee remained united and were about to overcome and rebuild their nation. I feel this shows what Tecumseh was envisioning. When I speak about Tecumseh, I speak about his spirit. His spirit of unity. In Mankiller's interview, I saw it clearly when she said, "And so that spirit that allowed them to go through that kind of tragedy and pain and division and yet, keep their vision fixed firmly on the future I think is what I meant when I said that we're a revitalized tribe." It almost shocks me to hear this. Even though Tecumseh was Shawnee, a completely different tribe, the Cherokee, has the same spirit as he did. This shows it isn't just a one tribe vision. This is a Native vision.

It's amazing that even though the Cherokee were able to rebuild, they never gave up their unity. Even today, being the second largest tribe in America, they still face challenges, but they stick together to overcome any obstacle and never lose sight of what's important.

Wilma Mankiller

Module 5 Blog

Review of the Native Nations Institute web site, University of Arizona Udall Center specific to the Wilma Mankiller, interview

 

 Having reviewed a great interview between Native Nations Institute and Wilma Mankiller, Principle Chief of the Cherokee 1945-2010, I found the care, consideration, thought, guiding principles, purpose and selflessness that defined her as a major leader for her people both humbling and refreshing. Her resolution to guide her people who had faced many decades of social and economic hardships, to redefine their cultural repressions in to resilience to be able to redefine the mindset of repression culture and not become resolved to status quo of poverty but work as a whole within the community to resolve and make the living conditions as a community better. It was quite enlightening to hear her statements as she put the teachings of native spirituality, sense of connectivity to natural surroundings to use and live those beliefs in working together as members of the community worked to lift themselves out from their repression.

The web resources chosen for the coursework that we are studying seem to emulate and lead us to a greater understanding of not only what should be curriculum resources but as resources of indigenous knowledge, perhaps making us able to better understand a greater spirituality of  thought of the learning material rather than the regurgitation of information more formally formatted.

Entering this course I thought would help to answer many questions that I had concerning the Native American peoples. The great thing is as many questions as were answered twice as many developed but I am happy in knowing that all of these can be answered by opening one’s mind, in having a “good mind” that all answers, as are questions, are connected spiritually.

Wilma Mankiller. Wow!

I fully appreciate Native Nation's Institute's Ian Record for his insightful questions in his interview with the late Wilma Mankiller, former Chief of the Cherokee nation.  Record's inquisitiveness opens Mankiller to share her experience growing up Cherokee away from the reservation, her participation in the American Indian Movement, and her leadership as Chief of the nation.  I like hearing her talk about the class disparity and therefore different needs within the Cherokee nation, and noting that there is no clear answer about how to address these disparities.  I wonder if her politics veer more towards socialism or capitalism, or a combination of the two.  Or maybe she has a way of addressing classism that I'm not familiar with.  I would like to learn more of her leadership.  In this interview it is clear that her primary concern is for the people at the ground level, those with the least amount of resources.
Mankiller notes the resiliency of her people, how we made it through land disposession and the Trail of Tears and began forming educational, governmental, and reporting organizations in our new land right away.  She notes how we were able to find our strength again despite Dawes' Act and land allotment tragedies, and how we are reviving ourselves today as we rely on ourselves for good ideas.  Mankiller communicates that trusting our Cherokee community, trusting ourselves to articulate our own needs and solutions, trusting that everyone has a role to play, and trusting the strength in our interdependence are key to hope and rev
I am inspired to hear her reminder that having all the great ideas in the world won't help the people struggling at the ground level within the community.  The ideas for change have to come from inside the communities, at the grassroots level, for the change to really empower people.  This, she says, is what she means when she talks about a revived nation...a nation that is supporting itself with its own ideas.  The experts of how to heal a system are the ones within the system, though funding and support for these ideas can come from outside.  Part of this Cherokee nation revival is based on the interdependence the poor have with one another; to be poor and to survive we have to help one another. 
I also am inspired by her acknowledging that leaders need to be connected to their people, to listen to their people and represent them well in delegations.  Leadership isn't about doing whatever a leader wants, but about serving the people.  This kind of leadership helps rebuild and revitalize the nation from within.   
She says:
"Indian Country is a very small place and within a tribe it’s even smaller, so that you can't mistreat women, for example, and then be in a leadership position of leading women. So I think that people expect their leaders to conduct themselves in a certain way and it’s important to do that. I had the privilege of working with Peterson Zah, President of the Navajo Nation, and he is just a great example of a family man, a grandfather, someone who always conducted himself with just great dignity and great respect and I think that that’s important too, to remember when you’re in leadership its not about you, you represent people and always keep the faces of those people in your head when you go someplace, you’re representing them and when you speak, you’re speaking for them. I think that’s important as well." ~Wilma Mankiller
I like this photo of her as a little girl because it helps me remember we need to nurture our little ones, all of them, as they will be leading us with the love and wisdom we share with them.  Wado to Mankiller's family and community for pouring all they did into her, to help her become who she was for her people. 

https://nnidatabase.org/video/wilma-mankiller-governance-leadership-and-cherokee-nation

Wilma Mankiller Interview

          "Leading Native Nations," the Native Nations Institute performed an interview with the Late Cherokee Chief, Wilma Mankiller. Mankiller shares her story about working to help the Cherokee Nation to have self-reliance. This interview is a perfect example of how a Native American community showed resilience after being mistreated by the U.S. government. Wilma speaks of the strong resilience that the Cherokee Nation has for picking up the pieces after going through much hardships.  She spoke of the Cherokee Nation as a revitalized tribe, stating that, “After every major upheaval, we have been able to gather together as a people and rebuild a community and a government.” (NNI database.org)  I immediately connected part of her story to one Native American Oral history. This goes along with the story of how the Tobacco plant and the Yucca plant survived the flood waters and became symbols of strength and resilience throughout the Native American communities.

When asked to define a strong healthy Native community her thoughts were that a strong community had the ability to think and plan for themselves without having others come up with solutions to their problems. (NNIdatabase.org)  I really liked the way Wilma Mankiller brought the community i.e. families into the cause of promoting a sovereign nation. Her ideas on including the people gave them a sense of self worth. Through her practice of helping people help themselves is a show of her humanitarian characteristics. She gave her time and worked personally with the Native community and was also their voice in their political office. She believed in her people’s ability to revitalize themselves. I was really impressed with her desire to always include the people. In the interview she spoke about conducting community meetings “ … so I think that for me the idea of listening is key to good leadership." (NNI database.org) Even in the large constitutional convention she expressed the need to have separate conventions so that everyone had the ability to participate and understand the information before putting in a vote. This is important because she was giving everyone the same opportunities despite the different levels of social stratification that exist. 

  Wilma Mankiller was a natural leader who cared for her community. When Mankiller was put into office she kept reiterating to her community the strength of their past she gave them something to be proud of and I think that really helped to boost their abilities going forward.

This interview tells the story of how Wilma Mankiller acted as a Political figure for her people. I think that this interview is a good example of how transformation and resilience was achieved by the Cherokee Nation.

“Wilma Mankiller: Governance, Leadership and the Cherokee Nation.” Search. N.p., n.d.

Web. 25 June 2016

Wilma Mankiller

As part of the Indigenous Government Database, Wilma Mankiller provides an informative interview where she talks about many different aspects of tribal life, her personal story and her role as the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.  Her beginning statement regarding sovereignty is a perfect place for her to start as it provides a reminder that before the U.S. government’s involvement in the lives of tribes, they had sovereignty, meaning they had their own government, their own constitutions and their own set of rules.  She then speaks of a community deciding for themselves what they want, “and then have within the community the skills and the ability to make that a reality.”  She touches on this importance a few times by explaining the effectiveness of asking members of the community to be actively involved in creating the change they have deemed is necessary and to give guidance to those who could be effective leaders.  Not just by their words, but by their actions and in some situations using their physical activity to create necessary improvements, as in the laying of a new pipeline. 

She reminds us that the Cherokee and other nations have moved on from the devastating effects of initial annihilation, assimilation and relocation.  They always made the decision to begin to create lives for themselves again but of course, not without challenges.  Her own life story reflects her desire to understand the feelings she was experiencing about her Native history and her decision to become an activist and then eventual leader.  Her focus as a leader was on many things but most importantly working to improve her nation’s government, educational system, health care and women’s rights. 

I was sorry to see that she had passed.  It seems just when I become interested in a historical figure, I find that they have passed.  I am sure that she has left a wonderful example for future leaders to follow.  

                                                        Love classic black and white photos.

https://nnidatabase.org/video/wilma-mankiller-governance-leadership-and-cherokee-nation

http://www.biography.com/people/wilma-mankiller-214109

Strawberry Festival and Theresa Bear Fox's 'Diamond'

Hi Folks,
I just returned back from the Mohawk Strawberry Festival.  If you can make it next year I so recommend going.  For me it felt like being around my mother again.  The community is so warm and open and loving, the vendors are full of beautiful artwork, everyone was welcomed into circle dancing, and the sounds in the air were of melodious traditional music from all over the world...including lots of live Beatles hits covered in Mohawk!  There was an open mike at the end of the day and I was encouraged to get up and sing...I was so afraid, but felt so much love and support, so for the first time in my life, I did.  I felt like I shouldn't because all I had coming to mind was a medicine song from Brazil and not from my own people but Theresa Bear Fox and other Mohawk people said it was ok, to sing, and just trust spirit.  I really want to be of service to native wisdom in the form of song, and told Theresa Bear Fox this.  She wanted to hear me sing.  I had to get over myself and sing.  It felt good to let go of my mind and just try and move from my heart. 
Rowers from the Onondaga came on canoe via the waterways and brought water from that land; Theresa Bear Fox and I used this water for the sacred tobacco growing on the Mohawk land. Then a Mohawk community member and I went and sat by the river to pray with tobacco in the traditional Mohawk way; they taught me Mohawk ways of doing things and said it was ok for me to use these things in my life, too.  They let me sit with a feather of their family's that was over a hundred years old.  I felt super grateful beyond words...I just tried to keep opening my heart and receive it with love.   
When I arrived at the festival Theresa Bear Fox was drumming while another woman played the flute.  I found some shade and just let the music sink into my heart.  Luckily, I found myself sitting at the feet of Kevin Deer, a Mohawk Clan leader who'd given the opening address (which I had missed).  He was telling some friends about how he felt the Europeans had brought a spell of greed for money and power with them and when they set foot on this land it cast this same spell over the people and land here.  He said he went back to that spot where the Europeans first set foot and did prayers to break that spell.  He also said that the spirit of the Peacemaker is returning to bring healing for all people and all of the land.  I asked him and Janet, another Mohawk person about the difference between cultural appropriation and Europeans learning native ways and visions for healing/peace in a respectful way.  Kevin and Janet both said that I was overthinking things, to come from my heart, to not judge people.  I said, well what about colonization of the soul, what if European colonization is now happening through taking beauty, ceremony, art, and ideas from native cultures and not honoring or giving back to the native communities?  Janet and Kevin both said that people who know how to respect and love what they are taught will reap the benefits and those who take and don't understand what they are learning just won't get it.  It didn't sound like they felt cultural appropriation was any threat.  I realize that these two voices do not represent everyone, and it is not a carte blanche for European Americans to go and do whatever they like with Native American cultural ways.  It was interesting for me to hear the message they were giving me personally, it seemed, which was to try not to judge others, to not come from the mind, but to come from the heart.  They said I would know by way of the heart what is right.  Kevin is one of the founders of and is now on the board of the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge.  HIIK's mission statement:
'Our first mission is to develop and offer academic programs and resources in partnership with Syracuse University in order to practice, protect, enhance and disseminate Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) knowledge for future generations.
The vision of the HIIK is the creation of a positive environment for the illumination and cultivation of traditional indigenous knowledge to enhance human relationships with each other and the natural world to fulfill our responsibilities for the continuation of life.'
http://www.hiawatha.syr.edu/missionvision.html

Here is a version of the song I sang at the festival.
https://soundcloud.com/shivanistgeorge/beijaflor-june-storm

Here is one of Theresa Bear Fox's songs, 'Diamond'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F3xBOLrhw8

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVjj4THBXXksAqAUPxQt.;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcwMDU1OQRfcgMyBGZyA3locy1hZGstYWRrX3NibnQEZ3ByaWQDMFlDbU1NQmxUWVNhZXJVZkhMRnpCQQRuX3JzbHQDMARuX3N1Z2cDMTAEb3JpZ2luA3NlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDMTUEcXVlcnkDWW91dHViZSUyMGFsdW5hBHRfc3RtcAMxNDY2OTc3NTY5?p=Youtube+aluna&fr2=sb-top-search&hspart=adk&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&param1=20160503&param2=c93a60b5-a95f-4c34-945e-3b439871b826&param3=transit_3.1.1%7EUS%7Eappfocus29&param4=bing%7Efirefox&type=appfocus29_tr_ff

This Friday my son and I are going to Colombia, to the Sierra Nevadas, the mountains of the Kogi.  Here is the movie of their message to 'little brother'...all the rest of us.  I recommend watching this.

Love,
Sareanda