My name is Mankiller, and in the old Cherokee Nation, when we lived here in the Southeast, we lived in semi-autonomous villages, and there was someone who watched over the village, who had the title of mankiller. And I'm not sure what you could equate that to, but it was sort of like a soldier or someone who was responsible for the security of the village, and so anyway this one fellow liked the title mankiller so well that he kept it as his name, and that's who we trace our ancestry back to.
Interpretation
The quote discusses the significance of the title 'Mankiller' in Cherokee culture, emphasizing its association with leadership and protection.
In this quote, Wilma Mankiller reflects on the historical and cultural significance of the title 'Mankiller' within the Cherokee Nation. This title represented someone who was responsible for the safety and security of the village, akin to a soldier. The narrative illustrates how names and titles can carry deep ancestral and cultural weight, ultimately tying identity to leadership within the community.
In practice
During a leadership seminar, I shared this quote to highlight the importance of cultural identity in modern leadership.
It's like everybody's sitting there and they have some kind of veil over their face, and they look at each other through this veil that makes them see each other through some stereotypical kind of viewpoint. If we're ever gonna collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we're gonna have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.
Women in leadership roles can help restore balance and wholeness to our communities.
Growth is a painful process._x000D_ If we’re ever going to collectively begin to grapple with the problems that we have collectively, we’re going to have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level.
I want to be remembered as the person who helped us restore faith in ourselves.
Everybody is sitting around saying, 'Well, jeez, we need somebody to solve this problem of bias.' That somebody is us. We all have to try to figure out a better way to get along.
One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful as a gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me; that for me to define myself. and I think that helped me a lot in assuming a leadership position.
Just because you are CEO, don't think you have landed. You must continually increase your learning, the way you think, and the way you approach the organization. I've never forgotten that.
Its a touchy subject, 'cause I never want to take it there, where it seems like it's all about race. But I feel like that's something that comes along with the territory of being a black quarterback. When you have success - 'Oh, you're a freak athlete.' Not, 'Oh, you're a good quarterback.'
The thing women must do to rise to power is to redefine their femininity. Once, power was considered a masculine attribute. In fact power has no sex.
At the end of the day, people will follow you or people will be energised by you if they buy into your vision or purpose. So the most important thing is to be true to yourself. That's why I would say to be a great leader - you, first and foremost, have to be a great human being. And sharing that purpose and sharing the values.
I knew that our community needed a very clear voice. and I think we deserved representation that rejected lobbyist funds and put our voters and our community first.
CEOs need to say, 'We're going to make sure this is a great environment for all types of people.' I was a beneficiary of that. I got support from the leaders of Google - all men.
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