Thursday, December 18, 2014

Wilma Mankiller

Some leaders have the natural ability to talk eloquently with the charm and charisma to lead and unite their people in a common cause. Ronald Regan, Patrick Henry, Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill to name a few. These great leaders through the power of their voices had significant impact on social and political change.


Today I was introduced for the first time to another great leader Wilma Mankiller. Maybe not as much of an eloquent speaker like those mentioned but she did have the charisma to lead a nation in a common cause. Her cause was simple, from the video I can sum up her cause in one word education. Mankiller the first woman leader of the Cherokee Nation sought to educate her people as well as non-Indians. She spoke of the good cause and united her people in a common cause. One of the key points of the speech that I took away was the Americanized stereotypes of Indian woman. Within the first few minutes of her speech I gained a new appreciation of woman Indians and their roll in Indian society.  According to her biography she was an advocate for Native American woman's rights. She has stressed that if all the Native Americans who were eligible to vote actually did so, officials elected with those votes would be forced to address the problems of Native American Woman. She also has called for an end to the increasing problem of violence against women. Mankiller was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame in NYC.

2 comments:

  1. Wilma Mankiller is such an inspiration to not just Native American women, but all American women. She is a strong leader and a well spoken one at that. She talks about so many different points about Native American education and culture. I learned so much and completely agree that the real facts should be talked about more in school.

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  2. She was a very charismatic person. I liked how she addressed many things, like government, education and I really like how she also focused on just being a good person and forgiving people, even if you had a disagreement, and how it was important to do that to focus on what you are doing in life.

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