Meet Susan La Flesche, the First Native American to earn a Medical Degree! Born in June 1865 in the Nebraska Territory, Susan’s father, Joseph La Flesche, aka Iron Eye, was the last recognized chief of the Omaha. Susuan La Flesche graduated second in her class from the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia, now Hampton University. In 1886, La Flesche attended the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia where she graduated with a medical degree a year early and first in her class in 1889. Nevertheless, as a woman, she could not vote and as a Native American, she could not call herself a citizen under American law. After earning her medical degree, she returned to the Omaha reservation and became the sole doctor for more than 1,200 people across 400+ miles, at only 24 years old. She did a great deal to help her people understand that they needed to make changes to protect their health. Dr. La Flesche wrote to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs about alcoh...