• One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful as a gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me; that for me to define myself. and I think that helped me a lot in assuming a leadership position.

    Wilma Mankiller: One of the things my parents taught me, and I'll always be grateful as a gift, is to not ever let anybody else define me; that for me to define myself. and I think that helped me a lot in assuming a leadership position.
    "Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation". Speech at Sweet Briar College, gos.sbc.edu. April 02, 1993.