Mattel honors Cherokee rights icon Wilma Mankiller
Citizens of the Cherokee Nation are delighted with the Mattel toy company’s release this week of new doll in its Barbie Inspiring Women series: Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and a powerful social activist.
“When Native girls see it, they can achieve it, and Wilma Mankiller has shown countless young women to be fearless and speak up for Indigenous and human rights,” Cherokee Nation principal chief Chuck Hoskins Jr. said in a written statement. “She not only served in a role dominated by men during a time that tribal nations were suppressed, but she led. … She truly exemplifies leadership, culture and equality, and we applaud Mattel for commemorating her in the Barbie Inspiring Women Series.”
FILE - In this Sept. 19, 1996 file photo, Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, gestures during a news conference, in Tulsa, Okla.
“We worked with Charlie Soap, Wilma’s husband, and Kristina Kiehl, Wilma’s longtime friend [who] gave us insight to not just Wilma’s brilliant career and achievements, but also sentimental insight like Wilma almost never wore heels and liked to get her nails done. So, the Wilma Barbie is wearing flats and has pink painted nails,” the doll’s designer Carlyle Nuera posted on Facebook.
By Thursday, the doll had sold out.
FILE - Activists hold signs promoting Native American participation in the US census in front of a mural of Crow Tribe historian and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Joe Medicine Crow on the Crow Indian Reservation in Lodge Grass, Mont., on Aug. 26, 2020.
2020 Census: Native American/Alaskan Population Nearly Doubles
The U.S. Census Bureau has released new statistics for the American Indian and Alaska Native populations showing that they are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States.
In 2010, 5.2 million people in the United States identified as American Indian and Alaska Native population. A decade later, 9.7 million claimed Native American or Alaska Native identities.
Among the people who specified a tribal affiliation, Cherokees represent the largest American Indian population alone or in any combination population group in the United States, with 1,513,326 people. The Navajo Nation was the most common American Indian alone, with 315,086 people.
Among the 171,000 respondents who identified with a specific Alaska Native tribe, Yup’ik (Yup’ik Eskimo) came in as the largest Alaska Native alone group in the U.S., with 9,026 people. Tlingit was the largest Alaska Native alone or in any combination group with 22,601 people.
It should be noted, however, that with more and more Americans claiming Indigenous ancestors based on family lore or “Pretendianism,” these numbers may be hard to verify.
See more:
A Native American monument is unveiled in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. California lawmakers and Native American tribes celebrated the unveiling of a monument outside of the state Capitol building tin the state's historic Capitol Park.
City of Sacramento honors Northern California tribes
Hundreds gathered in Sacramento on Tuesday for the unveiling of a new, 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Miwok leader and cultural preservationist William J. Franklin Sr.
The statue replaces a statue of Franciscan missionary Junipero Serra, the man who 300 years ago founded nearly two dozen missions, aiming to convert and “civilize” California Indians and give Spain a foothold in the region. Protesters tore down that statue in July 2020.
To learn more about Franklin Sr., read or listen to his interview with Elizabeth McKee, conducted as part of the Sacramento Ethnic Communities Survey Collection.
Indigenous drag queens combine drag queens and glitter
More than a dozen U.S. states have enacted or introduced legislation to restrict drag shows. It is the product of socially conservative momentum against events where performers who are mostly men dress mostly as women. Gustavo Martínez Contreras reports for VOA from a show in New Mexico that involves a unique all-Indigenous cast called “LaLa Land Back” and blends the camp of drag with Native American culture.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5
Indigenous Drag Queens Combine Politics, Glitter