Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of a major American Indian tribe, has been diagnosed with stage IV metastatic pancreatic cancer. According to Reznetnews, the Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith e-mailed the tribe on Tuesday. Wilma Mankiller and her husband, Charlie Soap, sent out the following message:
"I decided to issue this statement because I want my friends and family 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."
Mankiller, 64, first ran for and won the post of deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1983, ascending to principal chief in 1985 after Principal Chief Ross swimmer left to head the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1987, she won the position in the election that made her the first elected female chief of the second largest tribe in the United States.
She was an accomplished fund-raiser for the tribe and built the tribal health center, which bears her name. She also sought to reunite the Cherokee of Oklahoma with the Eastern Cherokee of North Carolina. After she retired from office in 1995, she was an author and lecturer as well as an activist for women's and tribal issues. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom under President Clinton as well as hundreds of other awards.
In her message, she says she will spend her remaining time with her family and close friends and keep engaging in actitivies she enjoys.
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