At the top of the tribe: as tribal leaders, American Indian women are breaking with tradition even as they work to preserve it.

• Author: Davey, Monica
• Position: Cecelia Fire Thunder

The Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe of South Dakota is often remembered for the male leaders of its past--men like Crazy Horse and Red Cloud. Now, Cecelia Fire Thunder

is also likely to be a memorable Oglala Lakota Sioux leader: About a year and a half ago, she became the first woman to be elected president on Pine Ridge, a reservation in South Dakota that is the country's second-largest in land area.

Fire Thunder, 59, is one of a growing group of female Indian leaders. According to the National Congress of American Indians, there are 133 women serving as leaders among more than 560 recognized tribes, and the number of women serving as top tribal leaders has nearly doubled over the past 25 years.

Fire Thunder's time as the tribe's leader has been tense. Her opponent in the election was Russell Means, an activist and actor, who challenged Fire Thunder's victory in a federal lawsuit. Some tribe members later called for her impeachment, amid complaints she had made questionable financial decisions and ignored the wishes of tribal elders.

By the time the Tribal Council dropped the impeachment complaint in December, Fire Thunder and many of her supporters had come to believe that her being a woman was at the root of the turmoil. Though some disagree with Fire Thunder's assertion of bias, she stands as an illustration of the shifting role American Indian women are playing in tribal governments.

'DO WHAT YOU CAN'

"I never thought my being a woman was a big deal until I got in," says Fire Thunder. "A woman may not seem traditional to some, but in the traditional Lakota teachings I grew up with, you are required to do what you can with what you have. That's been my whole life."

In part, the rise of women to tribal leadership reflects a progression from other roles women fill on reservations. They are often the administrators, the teachers, the community organizers, and in recent years, more likely than men to receive broader education beyond the reservation: Far more American Indian women are now earning college and advanced degrees than men.

And just as women started returning to reservations with their degrees, leadership opportunities were opening up. Some came about because residents were ready for a change after years of slow economic growth. In other cases, tribes turned to women in response to management challenges accompanying the rush of revenues from casinos and other new programs. (All female tribal...