Wilma Mankiller
(1945-)

First Female Chief of the Cherokee Nation
National Women's Hall of Fame
1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom
2000 Hubert Humphrey Civil Rights Award

birthdate: November 18
birthplace:
Tahlequah, Oklahoma

QUOTES

DIVERSITY
It's like everybody's sitting there and they have some kind of veil over their face, and they look at each other through this veil that makes them see each other through some stereotypical kind of viewpoint. If we're ever gonna collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we're gonna have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.

EDUCATION
“I don't think anybody anywhere can talk about the future of their people or of an organization without talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future.”

INDIGENOUS
"I want to be remembered as the person who helped us restore faith in ourselves."

"One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful for the gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me."

I think the most important issue we have as a people is what we started, and that is to begin to trust our own thinking again and belive in ourselves enough to think that we can articulate our own vision of the future and then work to make sure that that vision becomes a reality.

LEADERSHIP
“In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.”

“America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking.”

PERSEVERENCE
“The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.”

TOLERANCE
“Everybody is sitting around saying, 'Well, jeez, we need somebody to solve this problem of bias.' That somebody is us. We all have to try to figure out a better way to get along.”

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

MORE QUOTES

“We must trust our own thinking. Trust where we're going. And get the job done.”

“There are a whole lot of historical factors that have played a part in our being where we are today, and I think that to even to begin to understand our contemporary issues and contemporary problems, you have to understand a little bit about that history.”

 

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