Chief Mankiller of the Cherokee Nation

Shelby Mickler

Apr 20, 20203 min read

Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation, paved the way for women's rights within her Native American tribe.

When Wilma Mankiller was 11 years old in the 1950s, federal relocation programs for Native Americans took her and her family from rural family land in Oklahoma to San Francisco in an attempt to "urbanize" them. In San Francisco, Wilma and her family suffered from poverty and alienation, despite the promises of fruitfulness and "modernization" given to them by the federal government. Still, she and her family managed to root themselves into a small but strong indigenous community within California, and as Wilma grew up in a world of racism and discrimination, she built strong opinions about how Native Americans should govern themselves and speak out to protect their homeland.

From the time she was just 20 years old and a married mother of two, Wilma was already involved in politics and protest. She aided the early Black Panthers in attempts to feed elders and children, participated in the Occupation of Alcatraz, and volunteered frequently within the Cherokee community. In a deep-diving documentary about Wilma titled Mankiller, by filmmaker Valerie RedHorse Mohl, Wilma's daughters explain that their mother's activism was an ever-present side of who she was.

Wilma and her daughters eventually moved back to Oklahoma to work for the Cherokee Nation, which is about when she was approached to run as deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1983. She had gained recognition and popularity after petitioning and raising funds for a clean water initiative for tribal people, but despite the reverence and respect she had earned, her campaign for deputy chief was riddled with sexism and death threats.

“I’ve taken a fair amount of teasing amount my name...and I finally got a little tired of it last night when I got on the elevator and a man again teased me about my name—which is Mankiller. He asked me about the origin of it and I said it was a nickname and that I’d earned it." — Wilma Mankiller

Still, Wilma prevailed. She stepped up as principle chief when the former chief resigned, and served her first term as the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985. Almost immediately, American press made her out to be a celebrity. She received international attention, something that she used in her favor to create a positive perception of Native Americans throughout the world.

Wilma remained principle chief for a decade, during which she focused on building a healthcare system for Native Americans, fought for tribal women's rights, and brought awareness to the negative effect "mainstream society" had on Native American culture. She broke down feuding between "full-blood" and "mixed-blood" Natives by changing the way elections ran, giving equal power between rural and urban indigenous districts, while expanding organizations that focused on educating citizens about traditional and historical Cherokee culture and language. She also denounced many of the Reagan administration policies surrounding native people and showed how badly they had effected indigenous Americans, which pressed the federal government to create more open and expansive laws that aided in the growth of native nations.

Wilma Mankiller featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Wilma remained principle chief for three full terms, and her accomplishments as chief have lasted the Cherokee nation long past her death. She truly embodied the Cherokee concept of gadugi, collective community work toward a common goal. Her countless projects aimed at revitalizing native tribes through community projects and social reform. She was given many accolades throughout her life, including 14 honorary doctorates and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Unfortunately, Wilma suffered from multiple health problems throughout her life. She died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer; over 1,200 people attended her memorial service, which included statements from Bill and Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. Despite her early experiences with rampant racism and sexism, Wilma has been honored as one of the greatest Cherokee chiefs in modern history.