In this autobiography, Wilma Mankiller, former Chief of the Cherokee Nation, tells not only her personal story, but honors and recounts the complex history of the Cherokees. Mankiller's life unfolds against the backdrop of the dawning American Indian civil rights struggle. 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.