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Born in 1865 in the Great Plains, Susan La Flesche was raised in the Omaha tribe. Her father was a leader, and while proud of his Native American heritgae, believed that his people would be more successful if they learned to adapt to white ways, which didn't always endear him to his people. Susan was sent to a Presbyterian Mission school from the age of three, and continued with her education. She and her sisters were encouraged to speak English. She was eventually sent to school in New Jersey, and after helping an ethnologist who became ill while staying with the Omaha, she ws sent to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural School in Cheseapeake, Virginia. This was originally meant for African Americans, but started to include other peoples as well. Encourage by the doctor at that school, a woman, she applied to the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania and was able to attend after getting scholarships. It was not easy, but she graduated in 1889 as the first Native American to get a medical degree. She took jobs back home, but the very long hours, due to lack of other practicing doctors, negatively impacted her health. She tried to cut back, but was driven to help people in need. She eventually married and had two sons, but went in and out of medicine, always focusing on getting help to people in need. Her continued ill health led to her early death in 1915.