Susette LaFlesche Tibbles (1854-1903)
- An important advocate of Native American rights, Susette LaFlesche Tibbles was raised on the Omaha reservation in Nebraska. She worked as a teacher before becoming involved in a study of social conditions among the Plains tribes.Galvanized by the terrible conditions she observed, “Bright Eyes,” as she came to be known, served as an expert witness and worked as an interpreter in court cases that Native peoples brought against the federal government. She also received widespread fame as an orator, speaking out about the lack of rights afforded tribes.
Like other people of color, Native women did not have the privilege of a single- issue focus like suffrage. As activists, they lobbied strenuously to improve conditions on reservations and for U.S. citizenship, which was granted to them only in 1924.
Source: npg_NPG.2013.3