Susan La Flesche Picotte, M. D. : Omaha Indian Leader and Reformer

Susan La Flesche Picotte, born in a tipi on the plains in 1865, went on to become the first American Indian woman doctor. This interpretive biography focuses on Picotte's cultural mediation as she moved between two seemingly irreconcilable cultures -- her changing Omaha life in the West and the world of college, medical training, and politics in the East. Benson Tong reveals that although Susan La Flesche Picotte accepted some values in the U.S. government's turn-of-the-century "Americanization" policy toward Indians, she never abandoned her Omaha heritage. Like other mediators, she had an ambivalent, bicultural identity, one based in part on traditional status and roles. As the daughter of a chief, she learned a sense of tribal responsibility early on, and later she used her education, abilities, and eastern connections to work for Progressive-Era reforms among her people. Susan La Flesche Picotte, M.D. provides an intimate portrait of an Omaha woman, born in a time of tumultuous change, who achieved some measure of success as a teacher, doctor, and crusader for temperance and Indian-policy reform. It also tells of a woman who struggled to balance a demanding career with a life of devotion to her family and community. This inspiring biography will be valued by readers of American Indian history, women's studies, the history of medicine, and the history of the American West.