Mankiller makes "Inspiring Women” series list, same as Maya Angelou

    Iconic Wilma Mankiller Barbie doll                image

A Barbie doll designed to honour a reformist chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of a major Native American tribe who died in 2010 has met with mixed reactions.

Wilma Mankiller, an iconic chief said to have inspired countless Native American children with the insistence of an early education with provision of rural healthcare and housing for her native American Indian community got a quintessential American honor with her image being made into a Barbie doll as part of toymaker Mattel’s “Inspiring Women” series.

According to the AP news yesterday, Sunday, December 3, 2023, a public ceremony honoring the late Mankiller’s legacy is set for Tuesday, December 5, 2023 in Tahlequah in northeast Oklahoma, where the Cherokee Nation is headquartered.
Mankiller was the nation’s first female principal chief, leading the tribe for a decade from 1985 until 1995. She focused on improving social conditions through consensus and on restoring pride in Native heritage. She met with three U.S. presidents and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.

Mankiller met snide remarks about her surname — a military title — with humor, often delivering a straight-faced response: “Mankiller is actually a well-earned nickname.” 

The tribe’s current leader, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin, Jr., applauded Mattel for commemorating Mankiller.

“When Native girls see it, they can achieve it, and Wilma Mankiller has shown countless young women to be fearless and speak up for Indigenous and human rights,” Hoskin said in a statement. “Wilma Mankiller is a champion for the Cherokee Nation, for Indian Country, and even my own daughter.”

Mankiller, whose likeness is on a U.S. quarter issued in 2021, is the second Native American woman honored with a Barbie doll. Famed aviator Bessie Coleman, who was of Black and Cherokee ancestry, was depicted earlier this year.

Other dolls in the series include Maya Angelou a black American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist; Ida B.Wells; Jane Goodall and Madam C.J. Walker.

The rollout of the Barbie doll featuring Mankiller wearing a ribbon skirt, black shoes and carrying a woven basket has been met with conflicting reactions.

Many say the doll is a fitting tribute for a remarkable leader who faced conflict head-on and helped the tribe triple its enrollment, double its employment and build new health centers and children’s programs.

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