“I am a dreamer who dreams, sees visions, and listens always to the still, small voice. I am a trail-blazer.” – Susan Picotte
Susan Picotte was a Native American medical doctor and reformer. As a child, she unfortunately watched a sick Native American woman pass away because a local white doctor refused to give her care. Picotte has stated that this event was the inspiration for her becoming a physician to gain the ability to treat people on the Omaha reservation. She was the first person to receive federal aid for professional education and the first Native American in the U.S. to receive a medical degree (WMCP in 1889). Picotte returned to the reservation soon after to work as a physician at the government boarding school, caring for over 1200 patients. In addition to providing medical treatment, Picotte also actively participated in public reform supporting temperance and public health issues. Serving as the chair of the state health committee of the Nebraska Federation of Women’s Clubs, she strived to improve education about issues such as hygiene. Due to the widespread nature of tuberculosis during this time, she advocated further for cleanliness and the eradication of houseflies. For her service, the reservation hospital was named after her and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1993. In 2021, a bronze sculpture of Picotte was unveiled on Lincoln’s Centennial Mall on Nebraska’s first Indigenous Peoples’ Day.