The "Notable Native Americans: Part I - Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about the plight of a young Native American girl who had to watch, helplessly, as an elderly woman, living on the Omaha Reservation in the northeast corner of Nebraska, struggled to breathe and eventually died before her eyes, since the White doctor, living nearby, refused to come and doctor to her.  Miss Susan La Flesche Picotte vowed the night of the woman's death to do whatever it took to become a doctor.  The year was 1873 and it took nearly two decades before Susan La Flesche Picotte became a doctor.  

Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte

In 1889 she became the first Native American to graduate from medical school.  It would be another 35 years before the U.S. Government recognized Native Americans as citizens of the United States and 32 more years before Susan La Flesche Picotte was allowed to vote in the United States.  She became known as "A Warrior of the People" who would doctor to anyone and everyone no matter what race, color or what God they worshipped.  It has been said that "There was nobody like her in the history of America—not before, and not since."  Her mother was Mary Gale (aka One Woman) and her father was Chief Joseph La Flesche (aka Iron Eye) who was a prohibitionist who taught his four daughters Native customs, but insisted they only speak English so as to adapt to the White world for their own survival.  

A book written about Dr. Susan La Flesche.

At the age of 14 her father sent her to the Elizabeth Institute for Young Ladies in New Jersey and then to the Hampton Institute (Hampton University) in Virginia where she was second in her class.  White women at both schools were impressed with this young woman's drive and intellect.  They helped her earn a spot at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania where she graduated as class valedictorian.  She turned down many lucrative jobs so she could doctor to the Native American community.  At the time she was still only 24 and the only physician, man or woman, for more than 1,200 patients spread over 1,350 square miles.  She used a horse and buggy to make house calls.  She delivered babies as well as treated cholera and TB on the reservation as well as surrounding White towns.  

The first building that housed the Woman's Medical College
of Pennsylvania, c. 1850.

Then in 1913, with $9,000, she opened the first-of-its kind reservation hospital in Walthill, Nebraska.  But, many tribe members resented her willingness to assimilate White and Native America culture.  Being the daughter of mixed-race parents, she was accused of not being White enough for some people therefore many U.S. history textbooks have overlooked Susan La Flesche Picotte who died of bone cancer in 1915 at the age of 50.  Today, the Susan La Flesche Picotte Memorial Hospital still stands, a national historic landmark honoring the country's first Native American doctor.  

Decatur, Nebraska, circa 1910.  A group gathered for what
is believed to be a revival, including Dr. Susan La Flesche
Picotte who is in the second row wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

Patients have not been treated at the hospital since the 1940's and it had fallen into disrepair.  It is now being repurposed as a museum and offices for the Omaha tribe.  The Susan La Flesche Picotte legacy will live on with the belief that health care should be a fundamental right afforded to all, regardless of race, class or gender.  Have you ever heard of this pioneer in medicine?  If not, why?  I never heard of Susan La Flesche Picotte until I came upon her name while looking for information about the Women's National Indian Association.  To me, she should be considered a Hero for all races, classes or gender.  I certainly will remember her name!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.