Wilma Mankiller
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"Wilma Pearl Mankiller" was the first female Tribal chief/chief of the Cherokee Nation. She served as principal chief for ten years from 1985 to 1995. She is the author of a national-bestselling autobiography, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People and co-authored Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women.

Mankiller's administration founded the Cherokee Nation Community Development Department and saw a population increase of Cherokee Nation citizens from 55,000 to 156,000.

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Prior to my election, young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief.

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Individually and collectively, Cherokee people possess an extraordinary ability to face down adversity and continue moving forward.

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We've had daunting problems in many critical areas, but I believe in the old Cherokee injunction to "be of a good mind." Today it's called positive thinking.

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I think the most important issue we have as a people is what we started, and that is to begin to trust our own thinking again and believe in ourselves enough to think that we can articulate our own vision of the future and then work to make sure that that vision becomes a reality.

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One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful as a gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me; that for me to define myself . . . and I think that helped me a lot in assuming a leadership position.

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She likened her job to "running a small country, a medium corporation, and being a social worker."

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The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.

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Growth is a painful process.

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In Iroquois society, leaders are encouraged to remember seven generations in the past and consider seven generations in the future when making decisions that affect the people.

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