biographical on Wilma Mankiller

Biography of Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Pearl Mankiller was born on November 18th in Tahlequah , the capital of the Cherokee nation , Oklahoma . She lived in Mankiller Flats till she was ten years old . Then her family was moved to California when the Indian Affair Relocation program took place . Her father Charlie Mankiller was a Cherokee whereas her mother Irene Mankiller was of Dutch-Irish origin . Wilma had four sisters and six brothers . Wilma 's great grandfather was one of the many Cherokees who along with Choctaws Creeks , and other Indian tribes moved along the

Trail of Tears to Oklahoma . This was during the removal period in 1830 's . Here in Oklahoma the family was allotted 160 acres of land in eastern Oklahoma at a place called Mankiller Flats , but the land was rugged and it was difficult to eke out a life from it . Thus the family was poor and when Wilma 's father inherited the land he found it difficult to give a good life to his family . He managed to make some money from growing strawberries , peanuts , berries and green beans , cutting timber and picking crops when seasonal work was available . Food for the family was from the vegetable garden supplemented by wild game . Thus when the government 's offer to relocate them once more cropped up Charlie Mankiller was tempted by the prospects of a better life . The family did not wish to move , nevertheless they reached San Francisco only to discover that the relocation program promises were not fulfilled and there was no money . Even employment was very often not available . The children did not like California and was homesick . In her autobiography Mankiller : A Chief and her People ' Mankiller wrote , I experienced my own Trail of Tears when I was a young girl . No one pointed a gun at me or at members of my family . No show of force was used . It was not necessary . Nevertheless , The United States government through the Bureau of Indian Affairs , was once again trying to settle the `Indian problem by removal . I learned through this ordeal about the fear and anguish that occur when you give up your home , your community , and everything you have ever known to move far away to a strange place . I cried for days , not unlike the children who had stumbled down the Trail of Tears so many years before . I wept tears that came from deep within the Cherokee part of me . They were tears from my history , from my tribe 's past . They were Cherokee tears

In California Wilma completed her high school and enrolled herself for higher studies . She attended Skyline Junior College and then Francisco State College . It was here that she met her future husband Hector Hugo Olaya . They had two daughters , Felicia born in 1964 and Gina born in 1966 .While in college Wilma met the Native Americans who reclaimed the Alcatraz Island . for the Native American people . Many Indians made the bold move to move onto Alcatraz and...