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Western Movies Always Seemed To Show Indian Women Washing Clothes At The Creek And Men With A Tomahawk Or Spear In Their Hands, Adorned With Lots Of Feathers. That Image Has Stayed In Some People's Minds. Many Think We're Either Visionaries, `noble Savages,' Squaw Drudges Or Tragic Alcoholics. We're Very Rarely Depicted As Real People Who Have Greater Tenacity In Terms Of Trying To Hang On To Our Culture And Values System Than Most People.

-Wilma Mankiller

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Western Movies Always Seemed

Wilma Mankiller

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Western Movies Always Seemed To Show Indian Women Washing Clothes At The Creek And Men With A Tomahawk Or Spear In Their Hands, Adorned With Lots Of Feathers. That Image Has Stayed In Some People's Minds. Many Think We're Either Visionaries, `noble Savages,' Squaw Drudges Or Tragic Alcoholics. We're Very Rarely Depicted As Real People Who Have Greater Tenacity In Terms Of Trying To Hang On To Our Culture And Values System Than Most People.

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Friends Describe Me As Someone Who Likes To Sing And Dance Along The Edge Of The Roof. I Try To Encourage Young Women To Be Willing To Take Risks, To Stand Up For The Things They Believe In, And To Step Up And Accept The Challenge Of Serving In Leadership Roles.

My Ability To Survive Personal Crises Is Really A Mark Of The Character Of My People. Individually And Collectively, We Must React With A Tenacity That Allows Us Again And Again To Bounce Back From Adversity.

Though Many Non-native Americans Have Learned Very Little About Us, Over Time We Have Had To Learn Everything About Them. We Watch Their Films, Read Their Literature, Worship In Their Churches, And Attend Their Schools. Every Third-grade Student In The United States Is Presented With The Concept Of Europeans Discovering America As A "new World" With Fertile Soil, Abundant Gifts Of Nature, And Glorious Mountains And Rivers. Only The Most Enlightened Teachers Will Explain That This World Certainly Wasn't New To The Millions Of Indigenous People Who Already Lived Here When Columbus Arrived.

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Growth Is A Painful Process. If We’re Ever Going To Collectively Begin To Grapple With The Problems That We Have Collectively, We’re Going To Have To Move Back The Veil And Deal With Each Other On A More Human Level.

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The Happiest People I've Ever Met, Regardless Of Their Profession, Their Social Standing, Or Their Economic Status, Are People That Are Fully Engaged In The World Around Them. The Most Fulfilled People Are The Ones Who Get Up Every Morning And Stand For Something Larger Than Themselves. They Are The People Who Care About Others, Who Will Extend A Helping Hand To Someone In Need Or Will Speak Up About An Injustice When They See It.

Remember That I Am Just A Woman Who Is Living A Very Abundant Life. Every Step I Take Forward Is On A Path Paved By Strong Indian Women Before Me.

Cows Run Away From The Storm While The Buffalo Charges Toward It - And Gets Through It Quicker. Whenever I’m Confronted With A Tough Challenge, I Do Not Prolong The Torment, I Become The Buffalo.

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It Should Be Remembered That Hundreds Of People Of African Ancestry Also Walked The Trail Of Tears With The Cherokee During The Forced Removal Of 1838-1839. Although We Know About The Terrible Human Suffering Of Our Native People And The Members Of Other Tribes During The Removal, We Rarely Hear Of Those Black People Who Also Suffered.

Whoever Controls The Education Of Our Children Controls The Future.

It's Like Everybody's Sitting There And They Have Some Kind Of Veil Over Their Face, And They Look At Each Other Through This Veil That Makes Them See Each Other Through Some Stereotypical Kind Of Viewpoint. If We're Ever Gonna Collectively Begin To Grapple With The Problems That We Have Collectively, We're Gonna Have To Move Back The Veil And Deal With Each Other On A More Human Level.

Negative Thoughts Were Treated By Cherokee Healers With The Same Medicines As Wounds, Headaches, Or Physical Illness. It Was Believed That Unchecked Negative Thoughts Can Permeate The Being And Manifest Themselves In Negative Actions.

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Individually And Collectively, Cherokee People Possess An Extraordinary Ability To Face Down Adversity And Continue Moving Forward.

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In Iroquois Society, Leaders Are Encouraged To Remember Seven Generations In The Past And Consider Seven Generations In The Future When Making Decisions That Affect The People.

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Recognizing The Good, Not Just In One's Own Personal Circumstances, But In The World, Makes Anything Possible. When I Am Asked About The Important Characteristics Of Leadership, Being Of Good, Positive Mind Is At The Top Of My List. If A Leader Can Focus On The Meritorious Characteristics Of Other People And Try To Play To Their Strengths As Well As Find Value In Even The Most Difficult Situation, She Can Inspire Hope And Faith In Others And Motivate Them To Move Forward.

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We Are A Revitalized Tribe. After Every Major Upheaval, We Have Been Able To Gather Together As A People To Rebuild A Community And A Government. Individually And Collectively, Cherokee People Possess An Extraordinary Ability To Face Down Adversity And Continue Moving Forward. We Are Able To Do That Because Our Culture, Though Certainly Diminished, Has Sustained Us Since Time Inmemorial. This Cherokee Culture Is A Well-kept Secret.

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

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Prior To My Election, Young Cherokee Girls Would Never Have Thought That They Might Grow Up And Become Chief.

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Western Movies Always Seemed To Show Indian Women Washing Clothes At The Creek And Men With A Tomahawk Or Spear In Their Hands, Adorned With Lots Of Feathers. That Image Has Stayed In Some People's Minds. Many Think We're Either Visionaries, `noble Savages,' Squaw Drudges Or Tragic Alcoholics. We're Very Rarely Depicted As Real People Who Have Greater Tenacity In Terms Of Trying To Hang On To Our Culture And Values System Than Most People.

An Indian Is An Indian Regardless Of The Degree Of Indian Blood Or Which Little Government Card They Do Or Do Not Possess.

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