Against the Current

As a young girl on the Nebraska frontier Susan La Flesche Picotte witnessed the death of a tribal member when an agency doctor elected not to treat them. The memory of this experience drove her to become the first Native American doctor. In her tribal language the word Omaha means "against the current" - the legendary Dr. Picotte was true to her Omaha culture.

Two members of her tribe, Wehnona Stabler and Lisa Drum, tell Doctor Susan's story from the Omaha point of view. UNL Professor of History, Margaret Jacobs, offers insight into the Presbyterian Mission School on the reservation.