Wilma Mankiller Diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer
Wilma Mankiller
Charlie Soap has announced that his wife Wilma Mankiller has been diagnosed with Stage IV Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. Mankiller is an author, lecturer and former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
Mankiller served 12 years in elected office at the Cherokee Nation, the first two as Deputy Principal Chief followed by 10 years as Principal Chief. She retired from public office in 1995. Among her many honors, Mankiller has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton. Soap requests that the public respect the family’s privacy during this time.
Mankiller says, “I decided to issue this statement because I want my family and friends to know that I am mentally and spiritually prepared for this journey; a journey that all human beings will take at one time or another. I learned a long time ago that I can’t control the challenges the Creator sends my way but I can control the way I think about them and deal with them. On balance, I have been blessed with an extraordinarily rich and wonderful life, filled with incredible experiences. And I am grateful to have a support team composed of loving family and friends. I will be spending my time with my family and close friends and engaging in activities I enjoy. It’s been my privilege to meet and be touched by thousands of people in my life and I regret not being able to deliver this message personally to so many of you. If anyone wants to send a message to me, it is best to email me at wilmapmankiller@yahoo.com
WILMA PEARL MANKILLER BIOGRAPHY
Wilma Mankiller is an author, lecturer and former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Her roots are planted deep in the rural community of Mankiller Flats in Adair County, Oklahoma where she has spent most of her life. She was born in 1945 at Hastings Indian Hospital in Tahlequah, and grew up with few amenities. At age 10, her family moved to San Francisco as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation Program where she lived for two decades before returning to Oklahoma in 1977.
Wilma was the founding director of the Cherokee Nation Community Development Department, which received several national awards for innovative use of self-help in housing and water projects in low-income Cherokee communities. Then in 1983, she was elected the first female deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation, and president of the tribal council. In l987, she was elected to serve as the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1991. She chose not to seek re-election in l995.
During Wilma’s tenure she met with Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton to present critical tribal issues, and she and Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah co-chaired a national conference between tribal leaders and cabinet members which helped facilitate the establishment of an Office of Indian Justice within the U.S. Department of Justice. Wilma’s tenure was also marked by a great deal of new development, including several new free-standing health clinics, an $11 million Job Corps Center, and greatly expanded services for children and youth. She led the team that developed the core businesses which comprise Cherokee Nation Enterprises.
She has been honored with many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She has published several works, including, Every Day is a Good Day, Fulcrum Publishing 2004, Mankiller: A Chief and Her People, co-authored, St. Martin’s Press 1993, A Reader’s Companion to the History of Women in the U.S., co-edited, Houghton-Mifflin 1998. She has also contributed to other publications, including an essay for Native Universe, the inaugural publication of the National Museum of the American Indian. Wilma Mankiller lives on the Mankiller family allotment in the Cherokee Nation with her husband, Charlie Soap.
General Background Information:
Current activities: She has served on several philanthropic boards, including twelve years on the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation, four years on the Board of the Ms. Foundation for Women, and four years on the board of the Seventh Generation Fund. She current serves on the board of the Freedom Forum and as well as its subsidiary, the Newseum, a $400 million museum of the news being constructed on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. to promote the First Amendment. She has served as a member of the external Diversity Advisory Council for Merrill Lynch. She has presented more than 100 lectures on the challenges facing Native Americans and women in the 21st century. She served as the Wayne Morse Professor at the University of Oregon for the fall semester, 2005 where she and Dr. Rennard Strickland taught a class on tribal government, law and life.
Education: Bachelor of Science degree in social sciences, some graduate work in community planning.
Honorary Doctorate Degrees:
Yale University
Dartmouth College
Smith College
Mills College
Northern Arizona University
University of Oklahoma
Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma State University
Tulsa University
Drury College
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Rhode Island College
New England University
Northeastern State University
Honors:
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Montgomery Fellowship, Dartmouth College
The Chubb Fellowship, Timothy Dwight College, Yale University
San Francisco State University, Hall of Fame
San Francisco State Alumna of the Year (1988)
International Women of Distinction Award, Alpha Delta Kappa
Oklahoma Hall of Fame
Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame
National Women’s Hall of Fame
International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame
Minority Business Hall of Fame
Women of the Year, Oklahoma Federation of Indian Women
Woman of the Year, Ms. Magazine
Celebration of Heroes, Newsweek Cover Story
ABC Person of the Week, ABC Nightly News
National Racial Justice Award
Henry G. Bennett Distinguished Service Award, Oklahoma State University
John W. Gardner Leadership Award, Independent Sector
United States Public Health Service Leadership Award
Humanitarian Award, National Conference of Christians and Jews
The Dorothy Height Lifetime Achievement Award
The Elizabeth Blackwell Award
50 Most Influential People of the Century, in Oklahoma
50 Most Important People in the U.S., Who’s Who
Hero, Glamour Magazine, 2006
Updated 04-06-2010
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