The Philipsburg mail., 1898-07-29
INDIAN WOMEN AS NURSES.
They Have Not Only Skill and Grace but
Great Physical Endurance.

Great Physical Endurance.
Il never feel the least bit uneasy
when leave my case in the hands Of
one of these Indian women was the
tribute just paid by leading physician
of Philadelphia to the young Indian
women who have entered the field of
trained nursing. says the New York
Tribune. While the public, as a gem
eral rule, would hardly stop to consider
that the profession of trained nursing
requiring all the delicate attributes of
womanhood, would be adapted to the
daughters of wild and savage ancestry,
the fact remains that Oneida, Ottawa.
Wyandotte, and even Sioux girls, edu-
Gated and trained. are showing most
remarkable aptitude for the profession.
Capt H. r. Pratt, the superintendent
of the Indian industrial school at Car
Isle, Pa, declares, indeed, that the
time is not far distant when Indian
girls will be regarded by the medical
profession at large as the most sue
cessful trained nurses in the country.
Their first introduction into the hos
pital training schools. after they had
passed through a careful course of in
struction at Carlisle, is due to the ef-
| forts of Capt. Pratt, who believes the
| Indians have a future, and is firmly
| of the opinion that as a class they are
| quite capable of entering the occupa
| tiOns of the white man or WOmaI that
their dwellings should no longer be in
the woods or on the prairie exclusively,
| h,,% o1c<~ ;,,t III, of 4
whites, the cities, the Offices, the mills,
! the hospitals, and on the farms. All
| the training at the Carlisle school is
carried on with such an ultimate OBJ
| ject in view and with great success.
| The first instruction which the Indian
| girls who have been graduated as
trained nurses received in their profess
sion was in the Indian school hos
ptal, where during this preliminary
training, they showed such marked
ability that they were sent to complete
their training in the hospitals of Phila-
delphia At present Miss Nancy Sene-
ca. a young full l-blooded Indian maiden,
is studying at the Medico- -Chirugical
hospital in that city. Miss Kate Grind
rod, full-blooded Wyandotte Indian,
who was educated at Carlisle, is one Of
the most successful professional nurses.
During the edidernic at Carlisle in 1880
and 1891 she volunteered her services
as a nurse and succeeded so well that,
acting upon the advice of physicians, she
entered the Woman's hospital at Phila-
dtlphia. Her services are eagerly
sought by many of the leading families
of that city. Including Miss Nancy
Seneca, who will soon complete her
course, eight Indian girls, who first
graduated at Carlisle school, have dur
ing the last few years become trained
nurses and are now probably employed
in independent practice. The first In
dian woman in the world to complete
course in trained nursing was Miss
Nancy Cornelius an Oneida. She ar
rived at the Carlisle school from the
reservation in 1895, and entered the
second grade Being of delicate con-
stitution she was obliged to pass much
of her time in the school hospital for
treatment. and, desiring some occupa-
ton. she soon became a competent as
sistant to the nurse in charge. In Oc-
tober, 1888, Miss Cornelius left CarllsIe
and went to the training school Tor
nurses at Hartford. Conn, where she
graduated two years later. Since then
she has lived in Hartford. Comment
ing on Indian women as trained nurses
a physician who had had much expe-
rience with them in his practice said
Indian girls seem to possess every
requisite to make an ideal trained
nurse They are remarkably lnte!li-
gent. and have nerve and great cour-
age: they never become f1urried or ex-
cited, but keep their heads perfectly
at the most trying and critical mo
ments They also, as a rule, possess
considerable physical strength and
great endurance; withal they are kind
and attentive, following out the doc
, tors directions to the letter"