Documentary Review: The First American Indian Doctor: Unladylike 2020, American Masters, PBS

 The First American Indian Doctor: Unladylike 2020, American Masters, PBS, June 2020.

A brief documentary that tells the story os Susan La Flesche Picotte and her becoming a medical doctor  She graduated in 1889 from Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania.  Rather than provide services in the East she decided to return to the reservation to serve her people.  She also took a roll in public health among her people, and educated about good health practices to avoid spreading disease.  She became the doctor for the Omaha reservation and the winebago reservation.  She and her husband lived just off the reservation.  She treated both native and white people.  She left a lantern lit at her house so people would know she was available--all hours of the day or night.  She did much more than doctoring.  She started a children's library, she taught Sunday school, she started a quilting circle for Omaha women and she translated legal documents for members of the tribe.  She advocated for a ban on alcohol.  She did not like federal land allotment, through which much of the Indian land was lost.  In 1913 she opened a privately funded hospital on the Omaha Indian Reservation.  However just a couple years after opening the hospital, bone cancer claimed her life.  The hospital continued to operate for 30 years.  It is now open as a health clinic and community center and museum.  It is now an historical landmark.

LaFlesche is quoted as saying, "I will always fight good and hard, even if I have to fight alone."

Cast: Narrator Julianna Margulies; Joe Starita, author book about LaFlesche; Renée Sans Sousi, Omaha Native educator; Dr. Yvette Roubideaux Sioux doctor Rosebud Reservation and head of Indian Health Services.

Magazine Article Review: The Doctor's Work Endures,

 The Doctor's Work Endures by Ron Soodalter, Nebraska Life, July/August 2025, p 53.

Susan Laflesche was passionate about caring for her people, the Omaha Indians on the Omaha reservation in Nebraska.  She had seen disregard for Omaha life and decided to take upon herself the task of making a difference.  Susan was eleven years younger than her famous sister, Susette La Flesche.  An elder had been denied treament, with the doctor saying it didn't matter, she is only an Indian.  Susan decided it did matter and did something about it.  1889 she graduated valedictorian from the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania.  She became the first Native American physician.  She returned to Nebraska determined to care for all.   She would do house calls.  She opened a hospital in Walthill in 1919.  This hospital has recently been restored and is a medical and community center.  In addition a couple women recently reenacted her life, keeping the story alive. They were able to present at the Smithsonian.  

Native America Biography: Standing Bear, Ponca

Standing Bear was chief of the Ponca.  There is no way to hide it, the Ponca got a raw deal.  A treaty of 1858 guaranteed the Ponca a reservation on their traditional land.  However an 1868 treaty with the Sioux put the Ponca land inside the Sioux Reservation.  When the government corrected this seven years later they gave money to compensate for Sioux attacks, and moved all the Ponca to Indian Territory.  In 1879 Standing Bear and a few followers walked back to Nebraska.  General George Crook returned them.  The Ponca were dying.  Nearly a fourth of the remaining Ponca had died by 1879.  Standing Bear wanted to bury his son who had died in Oklahoma, on traditional land. He and about 70 others again made the trip.  Again General Crook met them.  However the newspapers had picked up the story, and a couple lawyers helped him in the Standing Bear vs. Crook case.  The first ruling was if Standing Bear was a citizen.  He testified, "My hand is not the same color as yours, but if you pierce it, I shall feel the pain.  The blood will be the same color.  We are men, the same God made us.. . . .All I ask is what is mine--my land, my freedom, my dignity as a man."  The courts ruled he had right to habeas corpus and ruled those with him could stay.. The ruling did not apply to Ponca still in Oklahoma.
The La Flesche helped the Ponca Tribe when they were shipped to Indian Territory.

Native American Biography: Fancis, Susan and Susette or Josett La Flesche: Omaha and Standing Bear: Ponca

Francis, Susan and Susette were siblings, children of Omaha chief Joseph La Flesche and Elizabeth Esau.  Francis was most noted as an anthropologist and as a lead in the efforts for Ponca Tribe recognition.  He helped Alice C. Fletcher with her book, "The Study of Omaha Music" and authored "Middle Five: Indian Boys at School.
His sister Susan became a medical doctor.  She treated everyone one the Omaha Reservation but was officially government physician to the Omaha Agency school.  Being too busy, her body started to break down.  However she did recover and eventually started a private practice in Bancroft, Nebraska.  By the time of her death, there was not a member of the Omaha Tribe she had not treated. She was also accepted as spokesperson for the tribe and represented them in the White world.
Her older sister was very involved in attempting to correct a social injustice.  The  Ponca had been displaced, when their reservation was given to the Sioux.  They were moved to Oklahoma Indian Territory.  The marched to the Omaha reservation, half starving, and without moccasins (they had eaten them) they were taken in by the Omaha.  Efforts were made by the La Flesche family for their restoration to their lands.
Standing Bear was chief of the Ponca.  His children died in the move.  He attempted to return them to traditional lands for burial.  The Indian agents kept returning them.  However the courts finally granted a writ of habeas corpus.  (Native Americans are people after all the court ruled.)  His family was allowed to stay, but the other Ponca still in Indian territory were not.