Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail

Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail
Born
Susie Walking Bear

(1903-01-27)January 27, 1903
DiedDecember 25, 1981(1981-12-25) (aged 78)
Burial placeLodge Grass Cemetery, Big Horn County, Montana
NationalityAmerican
Occupationnurse
Years active1927-1979
Known forFirst Crow registered nurse in the U.S.
SpouseThomas Yellowtail

Susie Walking Bear Yellowtail (1903–1981) (Crow-Sioux) was the first Crow and one of the first Native Americans to graduate as a registered nurse in the United States. Working for the Indian Health Service, she brought modern health care to her people and traveled throughout the U.S. to assess care given to indigenous people for the Public Health Service. Yellowtail served on many national health organizations and received many honors for her work, including the President's Award for Outstanding Nursing Health Care in 1962 and being honored in 1978 as the "Grandmother of American Indian Nurses" by the American Indian Nurses Association. She was inducted into the Montana Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 2002 became the first Native American inductee of the American Nurses Association Hall of Fame.