Wilma Mankiller

Children's Literature - Marilyn Courtot

When Wilma Mankiller left Oklahoma, she vowed that she would return to the wide-open spaces she loved. It took a few years, but she did indeed return with her own children. She took a job with the Cherokee Nation and eventually became their chief. She served two terms as chief, and she worked hard to help her people improve their living conditions. Now Wilma travels and lectures about Native American life. Woven into the story is a brief history including the Cherokee relocation (Trail of Tears) and the inner strength that helped many survive then and gave Wilma the strength to survive her own trials and tribulations. An easy to read, informative biography, liberally illustrated with full color art.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4A competent, easy-to-read biography of the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation. Events in Mankiller's life are briefly recountedher childhood, her family's relocation to San Francisco, her return to Oklahoma as an adult, and her work to improve living conditions for the Cherokee people as deputy chief, then chief. Her feelings of alienation, loneliness, determination, and faith shine through the simple text. Intense colors paint faces and scenes with broad, abstract strokes, filling the pages with driving movement. However, Charnan Simon's Wilma P. Mankiller (Children's, 1991) has more depth and a greater scope.Jacqueline Elsner, Athens Regional Library, GA