UA BookStores to Host Activist, Former Cherokee Nation Chief

UA News Services
Sept. 9, 2004


The University of Arizona BookStores will host Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, activist and author, for a book reading and discussion on Monday, Sept. 13, from noon to 1 p.m. on the main floor. The event will be held in the Student Union Memorial Center.

"Even with a staggering set of problems, indigenous women look forward to the future," says Mankiller, whose new book is "Every Day Is A Good Day: Reflections By Contemporary Indigenous Women."

The book features an introduction by Gloria Steinem and a foreword by Vine Deloria Jr. Mankiller converses with 19 prominent women artists, lawyers, ranchers, doctors, educators and activists. They share their unique and surprisingly candid perspectives on ceremony, the importance of context, Native American governance, womanhood, love and acceptance and the value of traditional knowledge and institutions.

Says Steinem in her introduction, "Wilma Mankiller has brought together wise voices in a conversation about the things for which we long the most," including community, balance, peaceful ways of resolving differences, and being of good mind.

Mankiller sees her latest book as an affirmation of the important role women with traditional knowledge have played in the political and cultural survival of indigenous people. "Our unique tribal world view has enabled our culture and governments to endure war, relocation, loss of land and lives," she says. "And it is that world view that has allowed me to remain positive even as I have dealt with two kidney transplants and two bouts of cancer.

"They find many moments of grace, beauty, and joy in their busy lives," says Mankiller. "And despite everything, they tend to view economic poverty as a barrier and a challenge, not a state of being."

"I hope that "Every Day Is A Good Day" will help people from many different communities learn about the special world in which these women live and see how they conduct their lives with dignity, faith, hope and optimism," says Mankiller.

Extra info

What

Wilma Mankiller

Where

UA BookStores, Student Union

When

Monday, Sept. 13, noon-1 p.m.

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