One of the issues that I wanted to comment on, and probably the most important issue today for the record, is the issue of self-governance...Always there are these great speeches about supporting tribal governments and that sort of thing in Washington from the leadership, but it needs to permeate every layer of these agencies, people we deal with on a day-to-day basis.
Chief of the Cherokee Nation (1945–2010)
Wilma Pearl Mankiller (Cherokee: ᎠᏥᎳᏍᎩ ᎠᏍᎦᏯᏗᎯ; November 18, 1945 – April 6, 2010) was an American Cherokee activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Alternative Names:
Chief Wilman Mankiller
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A-ji-luhsgi Asgaya-dihi
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Wilma Pearl Mankiller
From Wikidata (CC0)
Though many non-Native Americans have learned very little about us, over time we have had to learn everything about them. We watch their films, read their literature, worship in their churches, and attend their schools. Every third-grade student in the United States is presented with the concept of Europeans discovering America as a "New World" with fertile soil, abundant gifts of nature, and glorious mountains and rivers. Only the most enlightened teachers will explain that this world certainly wasn't new to the millions of indigenous people who already lived here when Columbus arrived.