1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: the show that pays tribute to people of the past 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: by telling their stories. Today, I'm Gabe Louizier, and today 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: we're talking about Wilma man Killer, a social activist whose 6 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: dedication and vision helped secure a brighter future for the 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: Cherokee Nation. The day was December Wilma man Killer took 8 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: office as Principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. 9 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: She was the first woman to be elected leader of 10 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: a major Native American tribe. She served in the role 11 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: for ten years, and under her leadership, the nation's education, healthcare, 12 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: and housing services were greatly improved. If you're curious about 13 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: her distinctive surname, you wouldn't be the first. She was 14 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: asked about it all the time at meetings, conferences, and 15 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: press events. As she would explain, probably more often than 16 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: she'd have liked. Man Killer is a translation of a 17 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: Cherokee term that refers to a high military rank, like 18 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: captain or major. One of Wilma's ancestors had been a 19 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: warrior who guarded his village, and the term of respect 20 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: that signified his role later became the family surname. Of course, 21 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: no one in the Cherokee Nation would think twice about 22 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: her last name, but outside of Oklahoma, it tended to 23 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,880 Speaker 1: raise a few eyebrows, a fact that Wilma would occasionally 24 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: use to her advantage. She told The New York Times quote, 25 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: some people do earn their names in native culture. I didn't, 26 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: but I don't always tell people that. Sometimes I just 27 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: say that man Killer is my name, and that I 28 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: earned it, and I let him wonder. Wilma Pearl man 29 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 1: Killer was born on November eighteenth, nineteen forty five, in Tallaquah, Oklahoma, 30 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: the capital of the Cherokee Nation. She was the sixth 31 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: of eleven children, and though her family's rural home lacked 32 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: electricity in indoor plumbing, she later recalled that she never 33 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: felt poor growing up there. That began to change in 34 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six, when a ten year old Wilma was 35 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: uprooted from her ancestral home and moved to a poverty 36 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: stricken neighborhood in San Francisco. Her father, who was a 37 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: full blooded Cherokee, had enrolled in the Bureau of Indian 38 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: Affairs relocation program. On the face of it. The federal 39 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: program was meant to address the growing issue of poverty 40 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:04,519 Speaker 1: on tribal lands. Rural families were to be relocated to big, 41 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: modern cities where they could theoretically have better living conditions. However, 42 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: in reality, the program often left families worse off. Many 43 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: struggled to find jobs and to adapt to a new 44 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: way of living. Worst of all, the move separated Native 45 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: people from the tribal communities they had known all their lives. 46 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: Wilma later recalled the day her family moved to San Francisco, saying, quote, 47 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: I remember as we drove to the train, I felt 48 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: so sad. I wasn't excited at all. I was trying 49 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: to memorize every tree and what the school looked like, 50 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: which flowers were blooming in my grandfather's front yard, all 51 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: those sorts of things. Over a hundred years earlier, in 52 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: the eighteen thirties, federal troops had forced the Cherokee, including 53 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: Wilma Mankiller's great grandfather, to leave their homes in the 54 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:05,040 Speaker 1: South East and relocate to Oklahoma. Wilma likened the traumatic 55 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: event to her own government sponsored relocation, calling it quote 56 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: my own little trail of tears. As a teenager growing 57 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: up in the nineteen sixties, Wilma found a place among 58 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: student activists in the Bay Area protest movement. She got 59 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: married in nineteen sixty three and had two children, both daughters, 60 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: by the time she was twenty. Despite her hectic home life, 61 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: Wilma still found time for social work, like helping the 62 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,159 Speaker 1: Black Panther Party and its mission to feed children and 63 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: the elderly. Then, in nineteen sixty nine, a historic event 64 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: changed Wilma's life and cemented her role as a lifelong activist. 65 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: In November of that year, a group of Native Americans 66 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: seized control of the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in 67 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: the San Francisco Bay. They claimed the island by right 68 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: of discovery, citing an old treaty that gave Native people 69 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: the right to occupy unused land in the United States. 70 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,239 Speaker 1: The Alcatraz Prison had been closed in nineteen sixty three, 71 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,480 Speaker 1: meaning that according to the treaty, the land was up 72 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:21,799 Speaker 1: for grabs. The occupation of Alcatraz stretched on for nineteen 73 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: months and grew to include thousands of Native American protesters. 74 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: The movement highlighted what it called a trail of broken 75 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: treaties that had stripped Native Americans of the majority of 76 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: their homelands. News of the occupation led Wilma to reckon 77 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 1: with the grief of her own family's relocation and the 78 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: effect it had on her sense of identity. She decided 79 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: to join the cause and began making frequent visits to 80 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: the island. She later explained quote, when Alcatraz occurred, I 81 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: became aware of what needed to be done to let 82 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: the rest of the world know that Indians had rights too. 83 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: More than anything, it was like coming home, and I 84 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: felt that I was where I should be. In the end, 85 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: the movement proved successful, affecting several positive changes in federal 86 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:17,040 Speaker 1: policy and sparking a new wave of Native American activism. 87 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: Wilma Mankiller was among the many people inspired by the occupation, 88 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: and she committed her life to empowering Native communities. From 89 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,839 Speaker 1: then on, she became the director of the Native American 90 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: Youth Center in Oakland, where she made it her mission 91 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: to instill pride for Native heritage and the children growing 92 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: up there. She also helped California's Pit River Tribe in 93 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: its legal battle with an energy company that was encroaching 94 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: on tribal lands. In nineteen seventy seven, Wilma divorced her 95 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: first husband and moved back to her family land in 96 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: Oklahoma along with her two daughters. There, she founded the 97 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: Community Development Department for the Cherokee Nation and successfully launched 98 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: a clean water and housing project that revitalized the tribal 99 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: community in Belle, Oklahoma. She gained recognition for the success 100 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: and was asked to be the running mate of Ross 101 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: Swimmer in his Night three bid to be Principal Chief. 102 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: Wilma was targeted for her gender during the campaign, including 103 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: several death threats, but she and Swimmer won anyway. Two 104 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: years later, Swimmer stepped down to take a position in 105 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: the federal government. Wilma ran the first of two successful 106 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: campaigns for the top spot of Principal Chief in Night. 107 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: Five years later, she secured a second term by winning 108 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: eighty three per cent of all votes cast. During her 109 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: time as chief, Wilma worked to break down the economic 110 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: and social barriers that had kept many of her people 111 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: in poverty for generations. Her policies doubled annual tribal revenue, 112 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: growing the nation's yearly budget to a healthy one hundred 113 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars by the end of her tenure, 114 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: she put much of that money right back into the community, 115 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: overhauling the tribal health care system and expanding educational resources. 116 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: By the time Wilma left office in nine membership in 117 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: the Cherokee Nation had grown from seventy two thousand members 118 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: to over a hundred and seventy thousand. Wilma man Killer 119 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 120 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three. Five years later, President Bill Clinton awarded 121 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: her the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 122 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: She passed away from pancreatic cancer on April six at 123 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: the age of sixty four. Her life was lived in 124 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: service to others, safeguarding customs and traditions while also charting 125 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: a path forward for her people. Despite her many achievements, 126 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: Wilma Mankiller took a modest approach to her legacy. When 127 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: asked what she hoped future generations would take from her story, 128 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: she replied, I hope that when I leave, it will 129 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: just be said I did what I could. I'm Gabe Lousier, 130 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 131 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more 132 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: about History by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 133 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: at t d i h C show. You can also 134 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, and if 135 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can send them 136 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: my way at this Day at i heart media dot com. 137 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 138 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 139 00:09:52,280 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class m For more podcasts 140 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,319 Speaker 1: from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 141 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.