A Puyallup, Ramona Bennett has been a pioneering activist on behalf of Indian rights since the 1950s. In
1971, she was elected Puyallup
Tribal Chairwoman, becoming one of the
first women to lead a tribe. She was
one of the principal authors of
the Indian Child Welfare
Act passed by Congress in 1978.
(1.4 min)
Sometimes
women leaders who were supported by their local communities
faced discrimination at a national level. Ramona Bennett,
elected Chairwoman by her Puyallup tribe, talks about having to
fight her way into the National Tribal Chairman’s Association
Meeting in the 1970s.
Challenging
sexism in the American Indian
movement