Digitization Project (BLDP)
Dedicated to the Education of
Culturally Literate Children
friend who is serving the community needs of Native Americans as a Doctor
or Nurse, either tribal or non-tribal, we invite you to send us their photograph
for inclusion in the BLDP Native American Doctors & Nurses Hall of Fame.
Please include their story; tribal affiliation, the system in which they serve,
their specialty, any awards or recognition they have received, and length of
service.
These are our Native American Doctors & Nurses serving our country through
their participation in our health care systems. This is their Doctors & Nurses
Hall of Fame.
Walking Bear Yellowtail helped to bring modern health care to her own people
and to end abuses in the Indian health care system, such as the sterilization
of Native American women without their consent. She effectively
communicated Native American culture and perspectives to non-Indians
throughout the country then as well as throughout her public service career.
From 1930 to 1960, the Montana nurse traveled throughout North American
reservations to assess the health, social and educational problems Native
Americans faced. One of her assessment's revealed that acutely ill Native
American children were literally dying on the backs of their mothers, who often
had to walk 20 to 30 miles to get to one of the five hospitals that served
160,000 Navajo. She also provided midwifery services to Native American and
other women in the Little Horn Valley for 30 years.
Through her work with the then Department of Health, Education and
Welfare, the founder of the Native American Nurses Association was
instrumental in winning tribal and government funding to help Native
Americans enter the nursing profession. In 1962, Yellowtail received the
President's Award for Outstanding Nursing Health Care.
scholarship provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Ms.
Nashannay Reeves, a member of the Potawatomie Indian Tribe of Crandon,
Wisconsin, completed her nursing training at the Pennsylvania Hospital in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In January 1942, following the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, Ms. Nashannany Reeves joined the Army Nurse Corps as a 2nd
Lieutenant. The 52nd Evacuation Hospital Unit was sent to New Caledonia
before its members had received their Army uniforms. When the hospital ship
Solace arrived at New Caledonia, Julia was assigned temporary duty aboard
the ship. The following year, Julia was transferred to the 23rd Station Hospital
in Norwich, England, where she was stationed during the invasion of
Normandy. She remained in Norwich through V-J Day, returning shortly
afterward to the United States.
During the Korean War, Julia mobilized with the 804th Station Hospital.She
was assigned to the 52nd Evacuation Hospital in New Caledonia. The 52nd
was one of the first hospitals activated at the onset of WWII. The unit left in
such a hurry that many of the staff were without uniforms or had been issued
the incorrect uniforms. The Red Cross on the journey through the Panama
Canal supplied the nurses attached to the hospital with summer clothes. Prior
to the invasion of Normandy, Julia served several weeks’ temporary duty on
the hospital ship Solace. In 1943, she was transferred to England where she
served with the 23rd Station Hospital in Norwich. Julia served through V-J Day.
Upon return to the United States, Julia was honorably discharged. She
attended Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts where she studied
Public Health Nursing utilizing the GI bill. During the Korean War, Ms.
Nashannay returned to active duty and served with the 804th Station Hospital
that operated at a hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. Here she met and
married Joseph Reeves, a military officer. She was discharged as a first
lieutenant. Ms. Nashannay Reeves supported her husband through his
military career. They raised four children and retired in the Suffolk, Virginia
area. Julia Helen Nashannay Reeves died on the 9th of May 1998 at her
home in Suffolk. Her husband recalls that at one time, Julia received an eagle
feather from the Potawatomie Indian Tribe as recognition of her service as a
warrior for her nation.
worked in a hospital set up by the Episcopal Church.
in the United States and Cuba. One, Mother Anthony (Susan Bordeaux), died
in Cuba as a result of disease contracted during her service. Because the
burial corps would not return her body to the United States, she was interred
in Cuba with military honors by the 1st Infantry and 7th Cavalry.In the "Roster
of Women Nurses Enlisted for Spanish American War by the DAR Hospital
Corps," the names of the first documented American Indian Army nurses can
be found. Four Lakota nuns from the Congregation of American Sisters from
Fort Pierre, S.D., are listed: Susan Bordeaux (the Rev. Mother M. Anthony),
Ella Clark (the Rev. Sister M. Gertrude), Anna B. Pleets (the Rev. Mother M.
Bridget) and Josephine Two Bears (the Rev. Sister M. Joseph. The sisters
were awarded the "Cross of the Order of Spanish American War Nurses".
Susan Bordeaux has been reported to be the granddaughter of Chief Spotted
Tail and the grandniece of Chief Red Cloud. Josephine Two Bears stayed to
run the Cuban orphanage until 1901 when she returned to the United States
with Father Craft. In 1903 she married Joachim Hairychin but died during
childbirth in 1909. It has been reported that Josephine was the daughter of
Chief Two Bears of Standing Rock.
During World War I, American Indian women were represented in the Army
Nurse Corps, which had been created in 1901 to ensure adequate deployable
nursing care for soldiers.
Ruth Hills Wadsworth, a Mescalero Apache Nurse, was the first American
Indian to serve as a Red Cross nurse overseas during World War I.
The Red Cross maintained a list of reserve nurses to be called up, if needed,
and Lula Owl Gloyne, Eastern Band of Cherokee, was one of those nurses.
Assigned to Camp Lewis, Wash., she cared for many war casualties. Later,
during World War II, she served as a Red Cross nurse on the Cherokee
Reservation in North Carolina.
Edith Anderson Monture, Mohawk, served in Vittel, France, with the
Westchester County (N.Y.) Unit B Medical Corps. There she treated victims of
mustard gas, an experience that she would sadly remember her entire life.
Her family reported that Mrs. Monture sustained hearing loss in her left ear as
a result of shellfire from German artillery. She was the last surviving nurse
from the Westchester Unit.
Cora Sinnard, Oneida, also stationed in France, worked in a hospital set up
by the Episcopal Church. Others such as Effie Barnette, Choctaw, and Agnes
Anderson, Jamestown S'Klallam also served as Army nurses.
The opportunity for women expanded greatly during World War II., and
extended to American Indian women who could be found in all military
branches, serving as officers and enlisted personnel.
American Indian women continued the nursing tradition as well and were
joining the Army and Navy. Army nurse Julia Nashanany Reeves, Forest
County Potawatomi, got a taste of both, when she served temporary duty on
the Solace, a Navy hospital ship. Ironically Julia's Indian name was Opta Chug
Gitchee Gumee Quay (Half Big Sea Water Woman or Mermaid).
A second irony was the Solace, the most famous of the World War II hospital
ships, was originally a civilian luxury liner christened the Iroquois.
Marcella Ryan LeBeau, Cheyenne River Sioux, served with the 76th General
Hospital in Europe and remembers the daily buzz bomb attacks and the fateful
day one hit the motor pool killing 25 military police and a civilian.
While many American Indian women served in the Army in more traditional
roles, Eva Mirabal, Taos Pueblo, had an unusual job. A formally trained artist,
she used her talents to help paint 'A Bridge of Wings', a mural that can be
seen in Building 262 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
She also created the cartoon strip 'G.I. Gertie' which was printed in the
Women's Army Corps publications.
American Indian women were not limited to the Army. The first to join the
Marines was Minnie Spotted Wolf, Blackfeet. Others such as Celia Mix,
Potawatomi, Viola Eastman, Chippewa, and Esther Quinton Cheshewalla,
Osage, also would join.
Those who became WAVES (the women's component of the Navy) served in
many areas. Elizabeth Coffee Sullivan, Chickasaw, was a Pharmacist's Mate,
3rd Class. June Townsend, Yuchi, of Oklahoma, chose to join the Coast
Guard and became a SPAR.
The Women's Air Service Pilots (WASPs) was formed to free up male pilots
for combat. Given the same training as the men, the women pilots transported
aircraft or towed gunnery targets.
Ola Rexroat, Oglala, fearing a desk job if she joined the other services chose
instead to fly and graduated from WASP Class 44-7. She was assigned to
Eagle Pass, Texas where she flew targets and did some ferrying. She is truly
a role model for American Indian women in aviation.
During the Korean War, there was a reduction in the number of women, in
general, who entered the military. Still, American Indian women felt compelled
to join.
Carrie Mae Lucas, Cherokee, was an Army nurse assigned to a MASH unit in
Korea. Her memories included the time the hospital was strafed and she and
other nurses had to jump into a foxhole for protection.
Sarah Mae Peshlakai, Navajo, was a medical specialist at an Army hospital in
Japan, where she cared for Korean battlefield casualties.
Phyllis Old Dog Cross, Mandan/Hidatsa, was an Air Force flight nurse who
logged many hours caring for patients at high altitudes.
American Indian women of the Nez Perce, Arikara, Penobscot, Cherokee,
Seneca and Lumbee tribes, to mention a few, served during Vietnam.
Mary Brayboy, Lumbee, remembers the heartbreak of caring for wounded
soldiers while stationed in Oklahoma.
More recently Native women contributed to the efforts of Desert Shield/Storm.
Seneca woman SFC Marcy Cornfield, Bear Clan, deployed to Saudi Arabia
and was assigned to the 124th Combat Electronic Warfare Intelligence
Battalion.
Josette Wheeler, Seneca, served as an electro-environmental systems
specialist on B-52G strategic bomber aircraft.
Native American women have also made their mark on the once all-male
service academies. American Indian women have graduated from all four
academies.
Delores Smith Bubier, Cherokee, was the first to graduate from the Air Force
Academy after which she became a navigator on KC-135R aircraft.
Brigitte Wahwassuck, Potawatomi, was the first to graduate from West Point.
The first to graduate from Annapolis (Navy) was Sandra Hinds and from the
Coast Guard Academy, Janet Emerson Stevens.
