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Informationen zum Autor Traci Sorell with introduction by Chelsea Clinton; illustrated by illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Gillian Flint Klappentext Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, a chapter book series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Wilma Mankiller! A 2024 American Indian Youth Literature Honor Book! The descendant of Cherokee ancestors who had been forced to walk the Trail of Tears, Wilma Mankiller experienced her own forced removal from the land she grew up on as a child. As she got older and learned more about the injustices her people had faced, she dedicated her life to instilling pride in Native heritage and reclaiming Native rights. She went on to become the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Traci Sorell, readers learn about the amazing life of Wilma Mankiller--and how she persisted . Complete with an introduction from Chelsea Clinton, black-and-white illustrations throughout, and a list of ways that readers can follow in Wilma Mankiller's footsteps and make a difference! A perfect choice for kids who love learning and teachers who want to bring inspiring women into their curriculum. And don’t miss out on the rest of the books in the She Persisted series, featuring so many more women who persisted! Covers may vary. Leseprobe Chapter 1 A Girl Called Pearl Wilma Pearl Mankiller led the Cherokee Nation as its first female chief. But before she visited with US presidents and met with world leaders, she was known by family and friends as a girl called Pearl. Pearl arrived in late autumn on November 18, 1945. Born at the old Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, she already had five siblings waiting at home for her. Her father, Charley, was a Cherokee Nation citizen living in the nearby Rocky Mountain community. Irene, her mother, was a white woman whose family had moved to the area. Her parents grew up around each other and married young. When Pearl was three, Charley built a four-room wood home for the family on land owned by his father. Traditionally, Cherokee individuals did not own land on the tribe’s reservation. The Cherokee Nation, meaning all the people in the tribe, shared the land together. Families owned their homes, gardens and crops, but not the land itself. But the US government did not want the Cherokee people to continue living together and sharing land this way. So the US Congress passed a law to divide up the tribe’s reservation. Each Cherokee person received land. That is how Pearl’s grand- father received the land where his family lived. But originally, all Cherokee people lived on the tribe’s lands in the Southeast, not on the reservation within what would later become northeastern Oklahoma. In 1838, the US government rounded up Cherokee people like Pearl’s ancestors at gunpoint to force them to move west. They couldn’t pack up their homes or bring their animals. Over four thousand Cherokee young and old—died during the roundup before the forced march and also along the way. That means one-fourth of the tribe’s population died. Lots of children became orphans. Many Native Nations also suffered similar removals from their own homelands and a horrific loss of lives. Pearl learned some of this difficult history while growing up on Mankiller Flats. This is what people called the land that her grandfather andothers in his family had been assigned to live on. Just like her ancestors’, Pearl’s life wasn’t always easy while she was growing up. The tiny tin-roofed house her father built had no running water or electricity. That meant no flushing toilet, no sink with running water, and no television to watch. This was normal for homes in that area in the 1940s a...
