Young White Bull (the son of Joseph White Bull), Mniconjou Lakota, circa 1915
A Navajo woman holding a rooster. Photograph by Loomis Dean. USA, May 1951.
Name: Wilma Mankiller
Dates: 1945-2010
Why she rocks: She was the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation for ten years. She overcame obstacles in a male-dominated leadership role. She developed projects to unite the men and women in her tribe, such as business and horticulture owning.
Quote: “Growth is a painful process”
Because of this woman… there is hope for other young native american females to pursue leadership in their cultural groups.
“If I should be killed, I want you to bury me on one of the hills east of the place where my grandparents and brothers and sisters and other relative are buried.
“If you have a memorial service, I want the soldiers to go ahead with the American flag. I want cowboys to follow, all on horseback. I want one of the cowboys to lead one of the wildest of the T over X horses with saddle and bridle on.
“I will be riding that horse.”
Such were the written instructions left by Pvt. Clarence Spotted Wolf, full-blood Gros Ventre, with his tribesmen. He was killed December 21, 1944, in Luxembourg.
Pvt. Spotted Wolf was born May 18, 1914. He entered the service in January, 1942, and a year later was transferred to a tank battalion. He went overseas in August, 1944.
On January 28, in Elbowoods, North Dakota, the memorial service he had foreseen was held in his honor. It was an impressive ceremony. The Stars and Stripes presided over the winter-bare hills where Clarence Spotted Wolf’s family and friends carried out his wishes. There were soldiers; there were cowboys; and his own saddle had been placed on the T over X horse, which was led in the procession. It is pleasing to fancy the spirits of brave warriors long departed watching benignly from the Happy Hunting Grounds.
