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Here are some famous Cherokee Indians for you to learn
about.
Wilma Mankiller On November 18, 1945 at W.W. Hastings Indian Hospital, in Tahlequah, Oklahoma the sixth child was born into a family of eleven. This child was Wilma Mankiller. The lucky parents were Charley and Irene Mankiller. Wilma Mankiller was the first woman to be a chief of the Cherokee Nation, and a Cherokee leader. Under her leadership, the tribe's population rose from 55,000 to 156,000. Mankiller was born in Stilwell, Oklahoma and was named after an 18th-century warrior ancestor. Before, She returned to Oklahoma with a bachelor's degree from Flaming Rainbow College in 1977 she studied at San Francisco State College and San Bruno College. After she graduated Mankiller worked as community development director. With that job she was renovating houses and building water systems for the Cherokee Nation. She served as a Cherokee's deputy chief in 1983. She was appointed chief in 1985. She became the first woman to lead the one of the biggest tribes in the United States, the Cherokee. At one time she lead a matrilineal society. In 1986 she was introduced into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame, and in 1987 she won re-election. She was also president of the Inter-Tribal Council of Oklahoma. Mankiller make known that she would not ask for re-election as the Cherokee Nation chief in the 1995 elections in April of 1994. John Ross's Native American name was Coowescoowe. He was one of the Cherokee Nation's chiefs. He was born near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and lived from 1790-1866. His mother was part Cherokee and his father was Scottish. As a strong-minded champion of the Cherokee, Ross was in the scuffle that led to the taking away of the Native Americans from their homes in Georgia to areas in Oklahoma. He became principal leader of the eastern branch of the Cherokee in 1828. He also served as president of the National Council of the Cherokee from 1819 to 1826. He was born near Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and lived from 1790-1866. His mother was part Cherokee and his father was Scottish. As a strong-minded champion of the Cherokee, Ross was in the scuffle that led to the taking away of the Native Americans from their homes in Georgia to areas in Oklahoma. He became principal leader of the eastern branch of the Cherokee in 1828. He also served as president of the National Council of the Cherokee from 1819 to 1826. Sequoya was the inventor of the Cherokee alphabet and a Native American leader. His name is also spelled Sequoia, Sikwayi, or Sequoyah. He was also known by the English as George Guess. Sequoya was born in Taskigi, Tennessee. He was the son of a part-Cherokee woman and Nathaniel Gist, an English trader. Sequoya worked as a trader and a silversmith in Cherokee County, Georgia. He served with the United States Army during the Creek War. The giant sequoia trees and Sequoia National Park in California are named after him. Sequoya, determined to preserve Cherokee culture began to form a system of writing for the Cherokees about 1809. By 1821 he had improve an alphabet that had over 80 characters that stood for all the syllables of the Cherokee language. The alphabet allowed the Cherokee to publish newspapers and books in their own language. Thousands learned to read and write in the new written language.
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