Arizona Daily Star, October 30, 2011, "The Best of Arizona: Native American leaders": Annie Dodge Wauneka: Wauneka won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 for her work to improve Navajo health and, in particular, to eradicate tuberculosis. She wrote a dictionary to translate English medical terms into Navajo and served for 27 years on the tribal council.
Annie D. Wauneka, 87, Dies; Navajo Medical Crusader by WOLFGANG SAXON, New York Times, November 16, 1997: Annie Dodge Wauneka, who broke custom and became the Navajo Nation's first female legislator and a health crusader, died on Monday at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona. She was 87 and lived in Klagetoh, in northeast Arizona. The cause was Alzheimer's disease, said Ted Rushton, a spokesman in Window Rock, Ariz., the Navajo capital. For many years starting in the 1950's, Mrs. Wauneka traveled to villages and clinics, covering the 24,000-square-mile territory of the Navajo to preach public health standards. She cut a striking figure, tall and always wearing traditional Navajo clothing, including a colorful shawl and silver jewelry. Over the years, she urged the Navajo to adopt more modern dwellings, and she worked to improve the quality of water on the reservation. She also helped many people obtain medical attention after generations of reliance solely on tradition. She received much of the credit for defeating tuberculosis among the Navajo beginning in the 1950's and received national recognition for her role. Albert A. Hale, president of the Navajo Nation, called her ''our legendary mother'' and ''the most honored Navajo in our history.'' He directed all public offices to shut down for one day last week, except for emergency services. Annie Dodge was born in Deer Springs, Ariz., and learned of public service from her father, Henry Chee Dodge, a chief and first president of the Navajo Nation's legislative Tribal Council. Its jurisdiction stretches over parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. She became the first woman on the council in 1951, winning an election over two rival candidates. One of those was her husband, George L. Wauneka, with whom she ran a ranch owned by her father in Arizona. Mrs. Wauneka was in the council for nearly 30 years, serving as the chairwoman of the health committee. Her concern with public health could be traced to her grade-school days, when the influenza pandemic at the end of World War I killed many Navajos. She escaped with a mild attack and, even as an 8-year-old, helped the overworked nurse at her school in Fort Defiance, Ariz. Her formal education ended in the 11th grade, when she began tending to the needs of her tribe at the side of her father, who had become head of the Tribal Council and her political mentor. ''From my childhood,'' she said later, ''I have been aware of the problems of my tribe and have wanted to help make our people aware of them.'' Among her frustrations were the objections of tribal medicine makers to new ways. She conceded that the medicine makers performed much good work among the people, especially in family matters. But she said: ''The Navajo is caught in between. I must convince them to accept a mixture.'' In 1963, Mrs. Wauneka and 30 diplomats, educators, musicians, authors and a former Supreme Court justice received the newly created Presidential Medal of Freedom for service to their country. President John F. Kennedy established the honor on July 4, 1963; after his assassination, the medals were presented by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Mrs. Wauneka's husband died in 1994. Her survivors include four daughters, Irma Bluehouse, Laurencita Cohoe, Georgia Ann Plummer and Sally S. Wauneka; five sons, Franklin, George L. Jr., Henry Chee, Norman and Timothy; a sister, Ann Shirley, and three brothers, Bernard, Sam and Walter Shirley.
Wikipedia entry [10/31/2011]:
Annie Dodge Wauneka (April 11, 1910 – November 10, 1997) was an influential member of the Navajo Nation as member of the Navajo Nation Council. As a member and three term head of the Council's Health and Welfare Committee, she worked to improve the health and education of the Navajo. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 by Lyndon B. Johnson as well as the Indian Council Fire Achievement Award and the Navajo Medal of Honor. She also received an honorary doctorate in Humanities from the University of New Mexico.
Annie Dodge Wauneka was the daughter of the Navajo leader Henry Chee Dodge and his third wife Keehanabah. Since Keehanabah had already left Chee before the birth of Annie, Chee's first wife, Nanabah, raised Annie along with three other of Chee's children. Having been raised by her father, a successful rancher, Annie lived a privileged life for a Navajo girl of her time. She was sent to a boarding school in Fort Defiance, Arizona in 1918, at the age of 8 where she spoke and read English. During that first year at school the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic struck the students and faculty. Annie recovered from a mild case of the flu and stayed at the school to help the school nurse care for the other student flu victims. This experience led to her later interest in public health.
After that she was sent to an Indian school in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she completed grade eleven at the age of 19. She left school to married a George Wauneka, whom she had met in school.
After the death of her father in 1946, she became active in tribal politics and became the second woman to be elected to the Tribal Council, after Lilly Neil. She was immediately appointed head of the council's Health and Welfare Committee. She served in that committee for her 27 years in the Council and served as its head for three terms.
See also: "Western women: Annie Dodge Wauneka was leader, voice of Navajo Nation" (Arizona Daily Star, September 20, 2016)