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A review by rsm_reads
Mankiller: A Chief and Her People by Michael Wallis, Wilma Mankiller
5.0
Wilma Mankiller is the first female Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation with an incredible story to tell. She rose to the leading position within her tribe, all while dealing with chronic health problems and structural injustices in her life and the lives of her people. Chapters alternate between personal narrative and tribe history, with each beginning with a Cherokee teaching. It’s a beautiful interwoven tapestry of legend, communal account, and individual story.
I learned about pieces of our history I have never known about, like how American colonists destroyed 50 Cherokee towns during the Revolutionary War. And how the Eastern Band of Cherokee (those who hid in the mountains during Removal) and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma reunited for the first time after Removal in 1984. 1984. What a tragically long wait to be united as one people again. I also learned that Jefferson was the original architect of Indian Removal through the lens of “Western expansion,” and Jackson was simply the one who had the gall to carry it out.
I also got to delve deeper into well known pieces of Cherokee history, from the syllabary of Sequoyah to the Treaty of New Echota and the Dawes Act. And hearing about beauty of the Smoky and Rocky Mountains through indigenous eyes was revelatory.
Mankiller’s family was one of those affected by the Indian termination and relocation policies of the 1950s, as her family was relocated from their family land on Mankiller Flats in Oklahoma to San Francisco. Away from family. Away from tradition. Away from other Cherokee. What they found in the city was life piled into a cramped ghetto apartment, long hard days of work in a factory, and no culture to ground them. Wilma speaks of the isolation she felt at her new school and neighborhood, and it is gutting.
She experiences renewal of identity and purpose during the Occupation of Alcatraz and it is there on that island that she finds her political voice. After this, she becomes convinced that she needs to move back to her ancestral homelands in Oklahoma and does so, beginning her successful career in tribal politics.
Wilma Mankiller is a fierce woman who was raised to know her worth in a world that inherently discredits her. It’s a beauty to read her story of triumph and leadership, and the heartaches along the way. Highly recommend the autobiography of this powerhouse of a woman.
I learned about pieces of our history I have never known about, like how American colonists destroyed 50 Cherokee towns during the Revolutionary War. And how the Eastern Band of Cherokee (those who hid in the mountains during Removal) and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma reunited for the first time after Removal in 1984. 1984. What a tragically long wait to be united as one people again. I also learned that Jefferson was the original architect of Indian Removal through the lens of “Western expansion,” and Jackson was simply the one who had the gall to carry it out.
I also got to delve deeper into well known pieces of Cherokee history, from the syllabary of Sequoyah to the Treaty of New Echota and the Dawes Act. And hearing about beauty of the Smoky and Rocky Mountains through indigenous eyes was revelatory.
Mankiller’s family was one of those affected by the Indian termination and relocation policies of the 1950s, as her family was relocated from their family land on Mankiller Flats in Oklahoma to San Francisco. Away from family. Away from tradition. Away from other Cherokee. What they found in the city was life piled into a cramped ghetto apartment, long hard days of work in a factory, and no culture to ground them. Wilma speaks of the isolation she felt at her new school and neighborhood, and it is gutting.
She experiences renewal of identity and purpose during the Occupation of Alcatraz and it is there on that island that she finds her political voice. After this, she becomes convinced that she needs to move back to her ancestral homelands in Oklahoma and does so, beginning her successful career in tribal politics.
Wilma Mankiller is a fierce woman who was raised to know her worth in a world that inherently discredits her. It’s a beauty to read her story of triumph and leadership, and the heartaches along the way. Highly recommend the autobiography of this powerhouse of a woman.