A talk by Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, kicks off events on campus commemorating March as Women’s History Month.

Her presentation, titled “The Changing Role of Native American Women,” is set for 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 2, in Derryberry Auditorium.

“Even in a tribe where we value harmony and balance between men and women, I’ve heard women say that men make better leaders,” she says. “We’ve heard it so often, we begin to believe it ourselves.”

But Mankiller, who became the first female in modern history to lead a major Native American tribe, set out to prove her detractors wrong. She was appointed to the post upon the 1985 resignation of her predecessor, but she carried her second election in 1991 with 82 percent of the vote.

As chief, she managed an enrolled population of more than 140,000, an annual budget of more than $75 million and more than 1,200 employees spread over an area of 7,000 square miles. Her task was often compared to that of a chief executive officer at a major corporation.

Mankiller's talk is a Center Stage event. Other Women’s History Month campus events include:

* Lachelle Norris will give a talk titled "Getting the Skills to Pay the Bills" at 11 a.m., Thursday, March 4, in Daniel 204. Norris, assistant professor of Sociology, is also a governor’s appointee to the Tennessee Board of Regents for the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. She will discuss the council during her lecture.

* International Women's Day on Monday, March 8, includes two lectures to be presented in Roaden University Center 342. At 11 a.m., Comfort Asanbe, a native of Nigeria and assistant professor of Counseling & Psychology, will speak about "Women's Issues In Nigeria." At noon, Girijia Shinde, a native of India and TTU alumnus who now teaches at Volunteer State Community College, will present "The Role of Women in India.”

* A presentation titled “Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century” by Rory Dicker and TTU alumnus Alison Piepmeier will wrap up Women’s History events at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, in Johnson Auditorium. Dicker and Piepmeier co-edited Catching a Wave (Northeastern University Press, 2003). Piepmeier is a lecturer at Vanderbilt University and assistant director of its Women's Studies program.

For more information about Women’s History Month, visit the Women’s Center web site at www.tntech.edu/women/.