An autobiography from the first woman to elected to serve as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation and winner of the 1998 Presidential Medal of Honor.

"Wilma Mankiller is someone I feel I've known in this lifetime and many lifetimes before. I recognize in her the greatest beauty, dignity, and truthfulness." —Alice Walker

In this spiritually moving autobiography, Wilma Mankiller, former chief of the Cherokee Nation, tells not only her personal story, but also honors and recounts the complex history of the Cherokees. Mankiller's life unfolds against the backdrop of the dawning American Indian civil rights struggle, and her book becomes a quest to reclaim and preserve the great Indian values that form the foundation of our nation. This new edition completely updates Mankiller's life after 1994; since then she has stepped down as Chief of the Cherokee Nation, survived several life-threatening operations, and has won the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In a new afterword, Mankiller recounts the tumultuous personal events over those years, including her second kidney transplant, as well as the political struggles of the Cherokee Nation that have made national news.

"Here is a strong and well-told story of survival and it is told with honesty and eloquence." —N. Scott Momaday, author of The House Made of Dawn

"As one woman's journey, Mankiller opens the heart. As the history of a people, it informs the mind. Together, it teaches us that, as long as people like Wilma Mankiller carry the flame within them, centuries of ignorance and genocide cannot extinguish the human spirit." —Gloria Steinem, author of Revolution from Within

"Chief Mankiller tells a story of a modern tribe that is carrying the Cherokee traditions into the future." —U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell

"Public servants everywhere can learn something from Chief Wilma Mankiller's story." ―Governor Ann Richards

"[Wilma Mankiller] is a colorful, intelligent advocate for all of America's indigenous peoples." — The Boston Globe