Susan La Flesche Picotte | |
|---|---|
 Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte | |
| Born | June 17, 1865 Omaha Reservation, United States |
| Died | September 18, 1915 (aged 50) Walthill, Nebraska, United States |
| Nationality | Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, French, and Anglo-American descent |
| Alma mater | Hampton Institute Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Known for | First Indigenous woman to become a physician in the United States |
| Parent(s) | Joseph La Flesche and Mary Gale |
| Relatives | Susette La Flesche (sister) Francis La Flesche (half-brother) |
Susan La Flesche Picotte (June 17, 1865 – September 18, 1915)[1] was a Native American medical doctor and reformer and member of the Omaha tribe. She is widely acknowledged as one of the first Indigenous people, and the first Indigenous woman, to earn a medical degree.[2] She campaigned for public health and for the formal, legal allotment of land to members of the Omaha tribe.
Picotte was an active social reformer as well as a physician. She worked to discourage the consumption of alcohol on the reservation where she worked as the physician, as part of the temperance movement. Picotte also campaigned for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis, which then had no cure, as part of a public health campaign. She also worked to help other Omaha navigate the bureaucracy of the Office of Indian Affairs and receive the money owed to them for the sale of their land.
- ^ "Susan La Flesche Picotte First Indigenous Female Physician". Nebraska Studies. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- ^ Speroff 2003, p. 109.