Friday, January 12, 2018

Native American Scholars


A footnote from history by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Because hope is the theme of most of my novels, I look for happy endings in the real history that inspires my stories. It can be very difficult to find "happy endings" for nineteenth century Native Americans. But searching for them has introduced me to some amazing people. 

Susan La Flesche Picotte earned a medical degree from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1889. An Omaha Indian, she became the first Native American physician in U.S. history (thirty-five years before Native Americans were allowed to become U.S. citizens). Picotte married in 1894 and moved to Bancroft, Nebraska, where she set up a private practice serving both white and non-white patients. Two years before her death, she opened a hospital in the Omaha reservation town of Walthill, Nebraska. 



Francis LaFlesche, half-brother to Susan, dedicated his life to the study of the Omaha people and their customs. He achieved great distinction as a scientist and scholar, completing two series of studies on the Omaha and Osage tribes, and authoring The Middle Five, an account of his life as a student in the Presbyterian mission school in northeastern Nebraska about the time of the Civil War. This book is regarded by anthropologists as a classic of Native American literature.

Charles Eastman, a Santee Sioux, was one of the most highly educated and influential Native Americans of his time. Raised to become a hunter-warrior, Eastman graduated from Dartmouth College and Boston University School of Medicine. He served as government physician at the Pine Ridge Agency where he tended casualties of the Wounded Knee Massacre, was Indian Inspector for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the YMCA, and helped found the Boy Scouts of America.



Susette LaFlesche was educated in the East by missionary
friends and returned to the Omaha reservation in Nebraska to teach. She became embroiled in the controversy surrounding Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca tribe and traveled seeking justice. She addressed vast audiences, testified before Senate committees, and earned the support of luminaries including Oliver Wendell Holmes, William Jennings Bryan, and General George Crook. As the wife of reformer Thomas Tibbles, she lectured in England and fought for Indian citizenship.

Do you have favorite Native American heroes or heroines? Tell us about them!

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Charles Eastman served as inspiration for Soaring Eagle, the main character in Book 2 of my Prairie Winds Series. Newly released late last year, Soaring Eagle is now available as an ebook. Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Soaring-Eagle-Prairie-Winds-Book-ebook/dp/B078GDYSQV

9 comments:

  1. I wonder if the "good" stories are only because people are trained by culture to look for the bad and degrading items. You've found great stories here, but I just know that there are many more success stories out there. I don't know any personally, but it can't all be bad news. Maybe the successful people are just too busy living their lives!!!

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    1. Hhmmm ... I think you may be onto something. Our openness to the positive aspects of other cultures has hopefully expanded with time.

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  2. What amazing happy stories that are not well know. I do not know any personally. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed hearing about these exceptional Native Americans.

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  3. There's so much we don't know because it wasn't popular at the time to focus on the truth of circumstances and the true stories of individuals involved. THanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks for responding, Debra. We live in a wonderful era of discovery when it comes to learning more about the past. I'm thankful for the new stories that are continually coming to light and the historians who do the work to reveal them to the rest of us.

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  4. My husband's grandmother was Cherokee. His grandfather married her straight off the reservation in the 19th century. In researching family history, Rex's brother found a lot of good things about her ancestors. It's really great to discover things that put ends to old myths and stereotypes. Thanks for an informative piece.

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  5. How cool that you know this family history, Martha. We had oral history in our family that indicated my paternal great-grandmother was Native American, but it turned out not to be fact. No surprises in my DNA regarding what was ... just a bit of a disappointment in what wasn't LOL.

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  6. I certainly don't agree but many people form their preconceived ideas about a certain culture or group of people so they don't seek out the good. Thanks for sharing about these outstanding people. I was familiar with Charles Eastman but unaware of the other's contributions.

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