1st Woman Chief of Major U.S. Indian Tribe Sworn In

Wilma Mankiller was sworn in today as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, becoming the first woman to head a major U.S. tribe.

Mankiller took the oath of office to succeed Ross O. Swimmer, 41, who was named director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs by President Reagan in September and confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday.

Mankiller, contacted in Tahlequah at the Cherokee Tribal Office, said she took the oath as principal chief in private ceremonies.

“We are going to have formal ceremonies on Dec. 14,” she said. “But after talking to Ross and other tribe leaders, we decided to have the private ceremony and get me sworn in so I could begin some official acts.”

Mankiller, who had served as Swimmer’s deputy principal chief, heads a nation of 68,000 Cherokees, the second largest tribe in the country. Only the Navajo Nation in Arizona, with about 150,000, is larger.

“I’m excited, very excited,” she said.

Swimmer, a lawyer and former banker, is the first tribal leader to head the BIA. He is taking over a post that has been vacant since November, 1984, when Ken Smith resigned.

Swimmer has said he would continue to emphasize the policies of tribal independence from the federal government through economic development.

While chief, Swimmer increased the Cherokee tribe’s assets from $9 million in 1975 to $34 million in 1985.