rip wilma

a role model. the first female chief of the cherokee

Former Cherokee Nation chief Wilma Mankiller dies
By ROCHELLE HINES and MURRAY EVANS Associated Press Writers

Wilma Mankiller, Cherokee chief, dies

Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee tribe and one of the few women to lead an American Indian tribe, has died this morning of pancreatic cancer, the Cherokee Phoenix reports. Here's the AP version. The Washington Post version will be posted shortly.

During her 10 years as principal chief, Mankiller helped her tribe triple in size -- it's the second biggest tribe, after the Navajo Nation, in the U.S. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. .........

pic: www.boisestate.edu/firstnations/mankiller.htm