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Our Heroes : Women Chiefs, Leaders and Ambassadors

      The ninth section of the World Longest Native American Painting was created in 2017.

 

        This painting was primarily created to acknowledge our Indigenous Women Chiefs, Tribal

        Ambassadors and the Native American Women’s role in Leadership. This work is a natural 

             continuation of Daniel’s graduate dissertation work centered on Indian Women in

                                       Leadership and their Roles in the Community.

 

Depiction from Left to Right  

 

* Chief Caleen Sisk :    Winnemem Wintu Tribe of Northern California. Spiritual Leader and

                                        Tribal chief responsible for the repatriation of a sacred river in the

                                        boundaries of her tribe.

 

* Matika Wilbur : Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes. Well known photographer for her project

                                “550 tribes” : a photographic presentation of the federally recognized tribes in

                                 the US

* Gertrude  Bonnin : Zitkala Sa (Red Bird) :      Writer and activist from the Yankton Sioux

                                   reservation in SD.

 

* Queen Alliquippa : Mingo Seneca chief of the early part of the 18th century who met with

                                     President George Washington in January 1754.

 

* Shiela Jordan :   American Jazz Singer and songwriter from Detroit, she is a direct descendant 

                               of Queen Alliquippa.

 

* Verna Williamson Teller :  In 1987 she became the first female Governor of the Isleta Pueblo in

                               NM. She fought against gender discrimination and ensured that women’s voices

                               were heard in the Pueblo Communities.

 

* Marge Anderson :  Ojibwe Elder and politician for the Mille Lac Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota.

                                    In 1991 she was the first woman elected Tribal Chief of her tribe.

 

* Valorie Johnson/Huff - Seneca/Cayuga : Philanthropist of the Kellog Foundation, Daniel’s

                                    sister in law Valorie, has contributed to the development of Indigenous

                                    Communities across the World.

 

* Louise Erdrich : Turtle Mountain Chippewa :  A well known Native American Ojibwe author.

                                    As a significant writer of the Native American Renaissance, she received the

                                    Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2021.

 

* Cecilia Fire Thunder : Nurse and community health planner she became the first female chief of

                                     the Oglala Sioux Tribe. In 2022, she became Educator of the Year.

 

* Patricia Michaels : Well respected Contemporary Fashion Designer from the Taos Pueblo in

                                     Northern NM.

 

* Lori Piestewa :  First Native American woman to die in combat in the Iraqi War in 2003. She

                               was from  the Hopi Pueblo and lived in Tuba City, AZ.

 

* Betty Mae Tiger Jumper : The first and only female chief of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

 

* Elouise Cobell (Pepion) : Activist, lawyer and banker from the Blackfeet Nation, she won the

                                 legal battle Cobell vs. Salazar (US government) allowing the retribution of

                                  funds for more than half a million Native Americans.

 

* Winnona LaDuke : Author, economist, environmentalist and activist from White Earth

                                    Chippewa in MN.

 

* Wilma Mankiller : First woman chief of the Cherokees of OK (See the section entitled Women

                                    of Oklahoma).

 

* Minnie Spotted Wolf : Blackfoot Nation. In 1923, she was the first Native American woman to

                                   enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve.

 

* Elizabeth Peratrovich : In 1945, this Native American Civil Rights Activist, a Tlingit Woman

                                    helped by her Native husband, succeeded to the passage of the anti-

                                    discrimination law against Alaskan Natives.

 

* Lavina Washines : First female chief of the Yakama Nation, a strong activist for the return of

                                    lands to the Tribe.

 

* Katsi Cook :  One of the most recognized Native American midwife, environmentalist and

                                    Native Rights activist from the Mohawk Nation.       

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