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October 5, 2009
Wilma Mankiller, the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation, says that when native women assume leadership positions, they take a step forward for women and a step into tribal tradition at the same time.
Her activism began 40 years ago in November, when native students occupied the island of Alcatraz near San Francisco.
Mankiller was honored as an extraordinary older woman at the AARP conference on diversity and aging in Chicago. She was interviewed by New America Media editor Khalil Abdullah.