Quotes from Chief Wilma Mankiller
In 2008, Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and internationally known Native rights activist, spoke at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. I was privileged to be in the audience that evening. She was this steady pulse of wisdom; little did we know that her voice would be silenced so soon, in the spring of 2010. Her words live on in her books and recordings of her speaking engagements. Recently I was reviewing my notes from that evening. They appear as I wrote them, exactly as she spoke them. Simply quotes that I was writing down, they do not tell a 'story' nor do they give a complete rendition of her remarks that night. They are the words of Wilma Mankiller...
- Our people tell their own stories in their own words in their own way.
- We have enormous diversity but shared common values.
- Our legends say that when responsibilities to the natural world are fully abandoned, the world will end.
- Native Americans are constantly reminded through their stories and ceremonies of their responsibility to the environment and each other – this is a fundamental difference from anglos.
- Think about the miracles of the natural world.
- Native Americans are connected by values and oppression.
- Our people have a shared responsibility for one another.
- Sharing, reciprocity – life is played out through these two values.
- Save the rainforest?? What about save the people of the rainforest? You never heard that.
- Education of the entire country is key: lack of accurate history or contemporary context leaves a void which is filled by either romanticized or vilified stereotypes.
- Native people must be viewed through a wide lens as complex and widely diverse, and that diversity exists even within tribes.
- Our people have survived massacres, boarding schools, relocation and more, and have survived. YES there is reason for optimism.
- There exists a sense of interdependence to each other and that land – these are the keys to sustainability.
- Native Americans have had to develop the ability to adapt to change – and we have.
- A way must be found to understand the full knowledge of tribe history and culture.
- The battle for land rights will continue.
- Loss of tribal government (therefore control), has always brought decline.
- Being indigenous in the 21st century means: family, language, ceremonies, culture, trusting our own thinking, believing in ourselves, human rights, self-determination, support, sharing traditional knowledge, and the use of technology, becoming leaders in professional fields while still participating in traditional ceremonies, letting go of anger, keeping eyes fixed firmly on the future.
- Don’t be angry about the past or paralyzed by what’s going on in the communities.
It’s hard to see the future with tears in your eyes…
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