I had never heard of Wilma Mankiller, I am sorry to say. But I was so mesmerized by the video entitled "Sonoma State University presents Wilma Mankiller". This presentation was on April 28. But I am not sure what year. It says it was uploaded in 2008.
Ms
Mankiller was the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. She speaks
from the heart on a topic titled "Context is Everything". She believes
that too few Americans understand the Native American view. It is
impossible if you know nothing about Natives and their government to
understand the struggles that Native People have to go through. She
explains that there are over 550 Tribal Governments. It does not matter
if a tribe has a large or small membership, or the amount of land a
tribe is in charge of, each tribe has the same sovereign rights. She
also explains how powerful and complex the woman's role is in the tribal
society.
Ms.
Mankiller believes that it is extremely important to hold on to
traditional way, which are slipping away. It is important to develop
practical projects to maintain systems of knowledge. Tribal culture is
medicine, language, ceremonies, and the relationship to the land. She
advises that when an elder dies, the stories that the elder knows dies
with him. Most of the Native cultures are not written down but told
orally through stories.
Wilma
Mankiller feels that traditional values are the most important cultural
attribute that the Native People try to hold on to. These values are
evident everyday in her Cherokee Nation.
The
most important idea that I took from this video is a quote Ms Mankiller
said was from Leroy Backwater, "be respectful to others, respects
oneself, always keeps his or her word, and helps other people. This is
what a good Cherokee person maintains.
(Picture:Courtesy of http://mypersonalblogccm.blogspot.com/2010/05/wilma-mankiller-leaves-us.html)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVLgwpHSYv0
The first time I had heard of her was in this course as well. I found myself going back to hear parts of her speech over again just to make sure I did not miss anything. She is really a great speaker.
ReplyDeleteI agree with her that not enough Americans know what the Native American has gone through and the struggles they are still facing today. I have learned so much in this course and how important it is to stay in touch with your roots.
I enjoyed her speech as well. She was and I'm sure still is in her spirit from beyond a great influence to all people in the world, regardless of race or cultural background. She most have been a great person to have as a Cherokee Chief and everyone who was lucky to meet her and work with her I am sure would testify to her motivation and inner strength as she continued to keep her positivity in her battle of cancer two times and an accident she had earlier in her life. She gave a great message of filtering out negativity and trying to always look at the positive even in a negative situation. Keeping a clean mind and looking forward no matter what. What an awesome person:)!!
ReplyDeleteI too loved her message of respect others, respect yourself and always keep your word along with helping others. This is a great model to go by. I also liked the message of keeping a good mind as a discipline and the idea that negative thoughts could poison ones self.
ReplyDelete