This biography, written by Catherine Capel, is shared with permission from Team Queens, an educational history blog run by a collective of historical scholars. All rights reserved; this material may not be republished without the author’s consent.
Born: 11 April 1910, United States
Died: 10 November 1997
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Annie Dodge
Annie Dodge was born on 11th April 1910 to Henry Chee Dodge, elected Chief of the Navajoes, and Kee’hanabah, one of his wives, near the settlement of Sawmill, Arizona.
Through her parents she was then affiliated with the Tsenijikini clan (Honey-combed Rock or Cliff-Dwelling People) on her mother’s side and the Coyote Pass People on her father’s.
Her father was one of the most well-respected Navajo ranchers and leaders, and when Annie was a year old, he took her to live with him and his wife Nanabah at their house in Sonsola Buttes, near Crystal. Here she was raised alongside her half-sister and two half-brothers.
In 1918, Annie was eight years old and sent to boarding school at Fort Defiance. In the same year, the Spanish Influenza pandemic hit with many of the children and staff being taken ill, including Annie herself. She recovered and aided her school nurse in caring for the sick.
Annie married George Wauneka in 1929, whom she had met at school, and the two would go on to run a ranch together and have nine children.
In 1951, Annie was the second woman elected to the Navajo Nation’s Legislative Tribunal Council and she would sit on the council for thirty years.
One of Annie’s most notable achievements was her fight against tuberculosis within the Navajo community. In 1953, she was appointed as chair of the Health and Welfare Division of the Community Services Committee to help deal with tuberculosis.
In 1956, she was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Indian Health.
She received a degree in public health and worked with the tribe’s medicine men to establish how to combat the spread of the infection including improved housing, water quality, and access to modern medicine.
In 1963, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Annie died in 1997, leaving behind her legacy as a medical pioneer. She was inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame and the National Women’s Hall of Fame as well as being called Legendary Mother of the Navajo People by the Council.
Recommended Reading
Carolyn Niethammer, I’ll Go and Do More: Annie Dodge Wauneka, Navajo Leader and Activist (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004)
Jan Cleere, “Legacies of the Past: Historic Women of Arizona,” Arizona Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 1 (2012): 89-105
Wolfgang Saxon, “Annie D. Wauneka, 87, dies; Navajo Medical Crusader”, New York Times, 16th November 1997.
The following is republished from the National Park Service. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
“I’ll go and do more.” – Annie Dodge Wauneka
Annie Dodge was born into the Tse níjikíní (Cliff Dwelling People) Clan of the Diné (Navajo) Tribe in a traditional hogan in 1910. She was just a child when Spanish Influenza began claiming the lives of millions of people around the world. It was difficult to accurately keep up with the losses at the time, but today the CDC estimates the total number of lives taken by the virus at 50 million. Fear and panic consumed people around the world, and eventually the Spanish Influenza came to Annie’s community.
At 8 years old, after surviving the flu herself, Annie stepped up to help medical workers care for victims and discovered a passion for medicine and helping people. After school and marriage (to George Wauneka), she went on to study public health and became an activist for the health and welfare of the Navajo Nation.
In 1951, Annie was one of the first women ever elected to the Tribal Council and began to put her knowledge to use. She created an English-Navajo medical dictionary to help doctors and patients communicate, educated people about tuberculosis, gave regular radio broadcasts in Navajo to share health and welfare information, served on advisory boards to the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service, and improved housing and sanitation conditions in her community. She dedicated her life to helping her people access the advantages of modern medicine without sacrificing traditional cultural values.
Annie Dodge Wauneka received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963 for her life of service. Albert A. Hale, the president of the Navajo Nation, called her “our legendary mother” and “the most honored Navajo in our history.”