Wilma Mankiller — First Female Chief of the Cherokee Nation

Born November 18, 1945 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Wilma Pearl Mankiller would live up to everything and more that her name implied. The sir name, Mankiller, is believed to be a military title that was given to the person in charge of protecting the village. Over a lifetime studded with great accomplishments, Wilma took that protection to heart and not only protected her village, but also expanded it to include the entire Cherokee Nation.

As a young girl Wilma moved with her family to San Francisco to languish in the better life the Bureau of Indian Affairs Indian Relocation Program had promised them. What she found there was only failed government promises which led Wilma to join the activist movement and to take part in Indian demonstrations, one of which was the occupation of Alcatraz Island.

She was elected deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1983 and became Chief when the serving chief resigned to become head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1987 her people officially elected her as chief and then, in the next election, re-elected her in a landslide victory with 82 percent of the vote. As chief of a male-dominated society, Wilma worked to re-establish the traditional Cherokee culture and value-system of balance between the two genders.

During her time as chief, Wilma brought inter-gender unity back by promoting community-building projects that advocated men and women working together for the common good of their people. Her tenure as chief was marked by such ground-breaking projects as: the founding of the Cherokee Nation Community Development Department, the revival of Sequoyah High School, and a population increase of from 55,000 to 156,000. She was also very instrumental in providing financial and technical assistance to members of the tribe and graduate them from receiving welfare to opening small businesses, thus generating economic self-sufficiency for the Cherokee Nation.

Ms. Magazine’s named Wilma Woman of the Year in 1987.

Her first book, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, an autobiography, became a national bestseller in 1993.

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

Another Outstanding Woman who, despite her gender and almost insurmountable obstacles, was not afraid to take that step into the unknown and pave the way for progress.

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