IN BELL, OKLAHOMA, 25 percent of people didn’t have indoor plumbing and lived in dilapidated conditions. We proposed they build a waterline and rehab their houses, as volunteers. We’d supply the technical engineering. 

Most were on welfare; people said they’d never show up. They showed up. 

We proved that Cherokee values were alive. I was trying to encourage our people to trust their thinking again, to look to themselves for solutions. 

I want to be remembered as the person who helped indigenous people restore faith in themselves. 

Wilma Mankiller’s memoir is at the Smithsonian. It will be used to tell her story and other women’s stories of inspiring her people and leading a nation.