by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
A week ago yesterday the US Mint released the newest coin in its "American Women's Quarters" program, a quarter honoring the late Wilma Mankiller, a former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Wilma Pearl Mankiller was born in November of 1945 in the beautiful community of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which sits along the banks of the Illinois River, one of the most pristine waterways in the nation. Tahlequah is also where the offices of the Cherokee Nation are located, and no doubt had some bearing on young Wilma's eventual interest in tribal politics.
Wilma's family moved to San Francisco, California, when she was a youngster. She graduated from San Francisco State University and was a part of the 19-month-long siege of Alcatraz Island in 1969-71 by Native American protestors. Not long after that she returned to Tahlequah where she worked for the Cherokee Tribe as a social worker and then as a grant writer and program developer. The young activist quickly made a name for herself, and in 1977 she was elected Assistant Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, the first woman to hold that position.
Wilma Mankiller became the first Principal Chief of the Cherokees in 1985 when her boss, Chief Ross Swimmer, resigned to take a position with the federal government, and two years later she was officially elected by the Cherokee Nation to hold that title. She was the first woman to ever become the principal chief of any major Native American tribe in the United States.
Wilma Mankiller served as Principal Chief of the Cherokees for ten years, retiring from that office in 1995, During her tenure she did such to improve the delivery of health care to the members of the Cherokee Nation, and to give the tribe more income steams and a better ability to manage its own financial affairs. Even after leaving office, Wilma Mankiller continued to work for the well-being and benefit of her people.
Chief Mankiller was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. She died in 2010 in her home state of Oklahoma as a result of pancreatic cancer.
I mentioned in this space yesterday that I had at one point in my work life been a part owner of a start-up, small weekly newspaper. That paper, "The Elk River Current," was headquartered in the small community of Southwest City, Missouri, a town that gets its name from being the southwestern most community in Missouri, with the borders of Arkansas and Oklahoma located just beyond the city limits.
Our newspaper began publication in September of 1987 at almost exactly the same time that Wilma Mankiller was running for her first full-term as Principal Chief. As the newspaper was getting started, I didn't know anything about Cherokee Nation politics, but one of my duties was traveling to nearby communities on the weekends (I had a regular job during the week), and to use those weekends jaunts to try and sell ads for the fledgling newspaper. I wasn't much of an ad salesman, but I did enjoy the drives and talking to people in the area businesses. And one of my memories of those drives into Oklahoma was all of the signs for the Cherokee election. Most were on sheets of plywood that had been painted white, and many of those were promoting a candidate for Chief by the name of Wilma Mankiller - and I always thought, when I saw this signs - what a great name for a politician!
Another duty that I had while trying to get "The Elk River Current" established and turning a profit was taking photos and running the darkroom. (Remember photography darkrooms?) The newspaper hadn't been operational too long when I heard that Chief Mankiller would be speaking to tribal members at a public gathering in Jay, Oklahoma, a small town less than twenty miles from Southwest City. That evening, myself, my wife (the editor), and our business partners piled into our old Chevy van and headed over to Jay.
The event was in a small venue, which, if memory serves, was a junior high school gym. Chief Mankiller and her husband, Charlie Soap, and a small entourage were on stage. She gave a talk about programs that the tribe was implementing, and when she had finished, her husband spoke to the group highlighting her main points in Cherokee, a language that at one time had almost become extinct. After the speeches ended, our editor got in close and was able to ask Chief Mankiller some questions, and I worked my way in close enough for a couple of good close-up shots. It was quite a coup for a little start-up newspaper!
And it was definitely the closest encounter that this poor typist is ever likely to have with someone prominent enough to be featured on United States coinage!
Rest is peace, Chief Mankiller. You did your people proud!
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