Chief Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected chief of the Cherokee Nation, spoke about the changing roles of Native American women last week in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

The traditional role of women in tribal societies was one in which their roles were separated from the men’s, but they were not without influence.

Mankiller said Cherokee women had their own tribal council, which was usually consulted by the men’s tribal council before any major decisions were made.

Women also had some power because they were the primary caretakers of the farming economies.

The principle behind the separation of the gender roles was that the world survived in a precarious state of balance, Mankiller said.

“When we see women being denigrated it throws the world out of balance,” Mankiller said.

Mankiller also discussed the ideas which people have about her on the basis of both her name and her position. Mankiller said her last name was an English translation of a title one of her ancestors had held.

Mankiller said her rise from one of 11 children born in an Oklahoma community without electricity or indoor plumbing to the first principal chief of the Cherokee was difficult. Her family was relocated from their home to the alien environment of San Francisco where she learned about a life for women very different from any she had ever known.

“We knew right away we were different. We were very, very different,” Mankiller said. “I was trained to do what my mother did — get married and have children.”

The changing society she was living in and a college education energized Mankiller to speak up for her beliefs and eventually run for the position of deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1982.

Mankiller said that before 1970, there had never been a woman on any of the executive councils and traditional attitudes showed in the way her candidacy was received.

When she first ran for the position, Mankiller said she was surprised that so many people considered her sex to be a major issue and predicted her defeat. This attitude was reinforced when she threw a campaign rally where only five people showed up.

“I was totally stunned by the reaction. It was one of the most hurtful things I’ve ever gone through in my life,” Mankiller said. “I really had to prepare myself physically and emotionally for what I thought would happen.”

In spite of public reaction and predictions, Mankiller managed to get elected by a small margin and ran for principal chief in 1985, 1987 and 1991, winning each time.

“After a time people began to stop thinking of the position of principal chief as a man,” Mankiller said.