Woman heads U.S. Indian tribe
NZPA-AP Tahlequah, Oklahoma Wilma Mankiller, sworn in yesterday as the first woman to head a main American Indian tribe, says that she is excited about her new job and the chance to try to break the circle of poverty among Cherokees. Ms Mankiller became principal chief of the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma, succeeding Ross Swimmer, who held the post for 10 years before being confirmed on Thursday as head of the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Ms Mankiller, aged 40, a mother and grandmother, said she had received much support in her new job leading the 68,000-member tribe.
Only the Navajo nation in Arizona, with 150,000 members, is larger.
Ms Mankiller becomes the tribe’s spokeswoman
and overseer of a ?US3O million ($52.94 million) annual budget that includes scores of small businesses, manufacturing ventures and a social and community service empire in 14 counties of northeastern Oklahoma, and an annual payroll that tops SUS 9 million ($15.88 million).
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Press, 7 December 1985, Page 11
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162Woman heads U.S. Indian tribe Press, 7 December 1985, Page 11
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