Mankiller, Wilma

Political and Cultural Consciousness

Her family left their home while Wilma was still a child to follow the promise of a better life promoted by a Bureau of Indian Affairs relocation program. Unfortunately, life for Indians in the San Francisco relocation program was wrought with poverty and injustice. During her adolescent years in the Bay Area, Mankiller's involvement with the San Francisco Indian Center heightened her political and cultural consciousness.

Later, although married with two young children, she found political inspiration and personal empowerment from both a college education and the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz Island, in which several of her siblings were active participants. Mankiller's subsequent work as director of the Native American Youth Center in East Oakland and her involvement with the Pit River Tribe's battle over ancestral land rights solidified her commitment to tribal sovereignty and community organizing. By 1974, conflicts between Mankiller's increasing involvement in community affairs and her husband Hugo Olaya's traditional expectations of his wife resulted in the dissolution of their marriage. Shortly thereafter, she moved with her two daughters, Gina and Felicia, back to Oklahoma to work for the Cherokee Nation.

Shortly after returning to Oklahoma, Mankiller was severely injured in an automobile crash and then diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. As she recovered, she continued to champion community causes. As Community Development Director for the Cherokee Nation, she went to work on the Bell Project, a community-based effort to improve living conditions in the rural town of Bell, Oklahoma. Working on the project brought Mankiller to the attention of her future husband, Charlie Soap, and Chief Ross Swimmer, who asked Mankiller to run for the contested position of deputy chief in 1983. After their victory, Swimmer accepted an appointment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, promoting Mankiller to Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

Political Career

In 1987, Wilma Mankiller ran for the office of Principal Chief and was victorious. The election was significant for many reasons, including the return of Cherokee women to positions of leadership they had historically occupied before European colonization and the Trail of Tears. During her years as Principal Chief, Mankiller revised tax laws affecting businesses operating on Cherokee land, expanded health services, championed youth programs, and signed an historic self-governance agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These successes led Mankiller to run for a second full term, and she was reelected with almost [Page 894]83 percent of the vote. In April 1994, Mankiller was invited to moderate a presidential summit of tribal leaders. Her efforts contributed to the creation of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Indian Justice.

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