The statue of Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865–1915): A pioneer of Native American public health

An elegantly sculpted statue of Dr Susan La Flesche Picotte graces the heart of Lincoln Nebraska's Centennial Mall, serving as an eternal testament to her life's essence; an everlasting memoir of her efforts in advocating and bettering not only the health and safety of Native Americans, but also avidly advocating for their human rights (Figure 1). ¹

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Figure 1.

Dr Susan La Flesche Picotte’s satute in Lincoln Nebraska. Sculpted by Benjamin Victor and unveiled on 11 October 2021. The inscribed stone reads ‘I shall always fight good and hard even if I have to fight alone’.

Born in 1865 in the Omaha Reservation, Dr Picotte strived to pursue her dream of becoming a physician despite the multiple barriers she faced. One of her more prominent quotes denote ‘it has always been a desire of mine to study medicine ever since I was a small girl for even then I saw the needs of my people for a good physician’. ² With a generous grant from the Connecticut branch of the Women's National Indian Association, she was able to pursue a medicine degree at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, where she learnt and excelled in anatomy, physiology, histology, therapeutics and obstetrics. Upon graduation, she promptly returned to the Omaha Reservation, where she was appointed as a government physician, placing her in charge of the health and wellbeing of 1244 Omahans. ³

With her jurisdiction spanning 30 by 40 miles, Dr Picotte often travelled by a hired buggy, navigating through the notorious Nebraskan heat and dangerous Nebraskan thunderstorms to access her patients. During her practice, she noted how the unsanitary living environment compounded a range of illnesses among the Omahans, especially conjunctivitis. This prompted her to partially pivot into a career of public health education, during which she educated Omahans on the importance of hygiene and the evils of alcohol abuse. She went on to create a sanatorium for victims of tuberculosis. ⁴ Despite suffering from a range of respiratory ailments herself, she remained devoted her craft, contributing towards several publications, including one of her most well-known articles ‘A plea for help’, which was published in the Independent in 1894. ³ In this article, she wrote about the dire health conditions on the Omaha Reservation, to raise public awareness. In 1913 Dr Picotte successfully raised the funds to establish the first hospital on the Omaha Reservation, staffed a diverse group of both Native American and non-Native American physicians and nurses. The hospital, honorarily named after herself, signified hope and progress for the Omaha people. ⁵

Dr Picotte's unwavering dedication to her people and her groundbreaking achievements continued to inspire future generations of Native American women. As summarised by Karen M. Morin, author of ‘Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary’, ⁶ ‘Dr Susan La Flesche Picotte was a remarkable woman who overcame incredible odds to become the first Native American woman physician. Her legacy is a testament to the strength and resilience of the human spirit’.