Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation for more than ten years. She was the first woman elected as Deputy Chief (1983) and then as Principal Chief (1985-1995), a role that years of work as a community activist for the tribe. The Bell Water project, an endeavor in which Mankiller took a leadership role, is depicted in The Cherokee Word for Water, a feature length dramatic film directed by Tim Kelly and her husband, Charlie Soap. Mankiller was born in...See more

Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010) served as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation for more than ten years. She was the first woman elected as Deputy Chief (1983) and then as Principal Chief (1985-1995), a role that years of work as a community activist for the tribe. The Bell Water project, an endeavor in which Mankiller took a leadership role, is depicted in The Cherokee Word for Water, a feature length dramatic film directed by Tim Kelly and her husband, Charlie Soap. Mankiller was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and lived much of her life on her grandfather's allotment in Adair County. When Mankiller lived in The Bay Area (1957-1976), she founded a youth center in Oakland, supported the Reoccupation of Alcatraz and participated in other work of the American Indian Movement. She returned to Oklahoma with her two young daughters 1976. In 2010, Mankiller won the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her likeness is appearing on the US Mint's quarter-dollar coin. See less