OurColony.net

A Leader of Peoples

Customer Rating:
This rewarding tome from Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995, alternates between her autobiography and a tribal history. The book's structure is often awkward, but we get more than just the instructive story of a courageous woman who rose to be a great leader among her people. Most rewarding is a crucial recent history of Native Americans and their modern struggles, which are rarely covered in more anthropological histories. Especially stirring are Mankiller's coverage of yet another disastrous federal relocation program for Indians in the 1950s, and unique perspectives on internal Cherokee politics. There are a few problems with this book, such as when Mankiller tries to deliver a social history of her coming-of-age in the late 1960s but keeps falling into thin baby boomer nostalgia, while she mostly avoids several controversies that developed during her term in office (which are covered in-depth in other sources). The tail end of the book also devolves into attempts at inspirational self-help platitudes. But Wilma Mankiller emerges here as a strong human being who overcame great personal struggles to become an effective leader, and her perspectives on the challenges faced by her people are essential reading for any concerned American. [~doomsdayer520~]

The Cherokee Nation

Customer Rating:
To me this is an excellent purchase. I can relate to many of the author's passages from the time she resided in California, memories of same have been brought to mind, in a positive sense.

Wilma Mankiller

Customer Rating:
For anyone interested in Native American History this is an excellent book. The book chronicles the life of the former Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller during times of political Native American activism and the fight of not only Cherokee people, but Native Americans as a whole during her lifetime. It is candid about the struggles Native Americans faced due to government programs of relocation and the struggle to make it in the white world while maintaining their Indian heritage and culture. In addition to providing a detailed account of Mankiller's life, the book gives a detailed account of the history of the Cherokee Nation and their struggles with removal, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, oppressive legislation, and issues faced on reservations.

Boring and Hypocritical Read

Customer Rating:
This book was horrendous. She is an ultra-sensitive cry baby who can't move on with her life. Aside from her life which literally has almost no accomplishments, the history of the Cherokees is just as boring. She rambles on and on about treaties and agreements that were broken by the united states and won't shutup about it the whole book. We get it, america ripped the native americans off. big deal. that's history, might makes right, and many nations in history faired worse off than the indians. countries have attacked each other for land for years, at least we allowed them to continue to exist. then, somehow she compares the trail of tears to the holocaust, which is just ridiculous. theres a difference between a walk that they chose to take by not previously cooperating, and a genocide of 6 millions jews through torture and starvation.

DONT READ THIS BOOK

Fascinating Reading!!

Customer Rating:
I read this one in four days ~~ it helped that we had some downtime while camping in a small state park. It is a wonderful memoir about a strong woman who, in spite of physical obstacles, managed to lead the second largest Indian Tribe in America. It is not just a memoir about a strong woman, it is also a history of a strong Indian tribe. It is an absolutely wonderful book and one that every serious reader of history should read.

I picked this book up two years ago while traveling in Cherokee, NC, and never found the time to read it till recently, when I knew that we would be outside and camping again. (It seems that I do my best reading when we're traveling ...) I found the subject title fascinating and when I did finally get to the book, I found it even more fascinating and curious. This is a woman in every sense of the word. Wilma Mankiller is a heroine that every woman should look up to ~~ young and old.

Wilma Mankiller grew up in poverty-stricken Oklahoma and while she was still young, her family relocated to California as part of the Native American relocation program that was offered just after WWII. She grew up in California, married young and had two daughters. She became involved with the civil rights movement and at the same time, she has never lost sense of her own heritage. After her marriage fell apart, she moved back home to Oklahoma, went onto working for the Cherokee National Tribe doing various things and eventually became the first Woman Chief. Intermixed with her personal tale are ancient stories from the Cherokee history ~~ of the times before they left their homelands, about the Trail of Tears, and so on. It's history mixed in with personal story-telling and it's a wonderful way to read this book.

Unlike some reviewers, I did not find Mankiller bashing the whites for all their problems ~~ she was very diplomatic in telling the readers about the history ~~ but the history has shown that when the white settlers came to America, they did break treaties and their promises, and there's reason why the Native Americans don't trust them ~~ the government of US and its citizens have not given them reason to. But on the same breath, Mankiller mentions that her tribe has a hard time with change ~~ she doesn't sit there and bemoaned the loss of their ancient lands, she gets out and work on solving the problems that her tribe is facing. She admits that change has occurred and she's very realistic about fixing the problems. I cannot but help admire her for that.

This is an excellent book ~~ it's guaranteed to be a thought-provoker in conversations and discourses ~~ at least it has for my husband and me. It is such an interesting tale about a woman who never learned the words, I can't. She never gave up the fight for her people. This book is just a small testimony to that fight.

8-13-07