American Indian women are not strangers to leadership and power. In traditional tribal culture, women often hold positions of authority, participating in decisions affecting their families and communities. They are responsible for preserving values and culture as well as caring for their families. Many tribes use a matrilineal system in establishing clan membership, a fundamentally aspect of tribal life that determines individuals' roles in marriage, life and culture. More recently this leadership has taken on a public face. Fourteen of the country's 37 tribal college presidents are women. According to the National Congress of American Indians, more than 130 women serve as leaders among the more than 550 tribes in the United States. Cheryl Crazy Bull, of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and president of Northwest Indian College, says the new public role of Indian women leaders is not purely an outgrowth of the traditional women's tribal role. "We are creating new roles for ourselves, evolving and changing. We are in new territory," she says. How do American Indian women leaders view their changing roles in Indian country? Ada Deer, of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin, and Karen Diver, of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, share their perspectives on the changing role of Native American women, an issue with many common themes, including a sense of community responsibility that is an outgrowth of caring for family and tribe, strong dedication to personal vision and belief in the power of education to realize their vision.