The evening times., 1898-06-17
INDIAN WOMEN
rs SICK NURSES
Not Only Evidence Skill But
Physical Endurance.
Miss Cornelius. of the Oneida Tribe.
the First Indian to Become
Professional TT aimed Nurse.

81 never feel the least bit uneasy when
l leave my case in the hands of one of
these Indian women was the tribute
just paid by a leading physician of Phil
adeiphia to the young indian women
who have entered the field of trained
nursing.
While the public. as general 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 re-
mains that Oneida, Ottawa. Wyandotte
and even Sioux girls, educated and train
ed, are showing most remarkable apti-
ttude for the profession.
Cart. r. II. 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 successful trained
nurses in the country. Their first intro
ductiOn into the hospital training
schools after they had passed through
a careful course of instruction at Car
isle is due to the efforts or Capt. Pratt.
and is firmly of the opinion that, as
class. they are quite capable of entering
the occupations of the white man or
woman, that their dwelling should no
longer be in the woods or on the prairie
exclusively. but also in the hives of in
dustry of the whites. the cities. the Of
fees. the mills. the hospitals and on the
farms.
All the training at the Carlisle school
is carried on with sucn 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 professions was
in the Indian school hospital where.
during the preliminary training. they
showed such marked ability that they
were sent to complete their training in
the hospitals of Philadelphia.
AT present Miss Nancy seneca. young
full-blooded Indian maiden, is studying
at the Medico-C Chirurgical Hospital in
that city.
Miss Kate Grnrod. a fulI-blooded Wy
andotte lndina. who was educated at Car
Isle. is one of the most successful pro-
fessional nurses. During the epidemic at
Carlisle in 1880 and 1891. she volunteered
her services as a nurse and succeeded so
well that. acting upon the advice of ply
sicians, she entered the Woman's Hospi-
tai at Philadelphia. 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 during the last few years he
come trained nurses and are now profita
bly, employed in independent practice.
The first Indian woman in the world TO
complete a course in trained nursing was
Miss Nancy Cornelius. Oneida. She
arrived at the Carlisle school from the
reservation in 1855 and entered the sec
ond grade. Being of a delicate corsti
tuition she was obliged to pass much of
her time in the school hospital for treat
ment. and desiring some occupation she
soon became a competent assistant to the
nurse in charge. In October. 1855 Miss
Cornelius left Carlisle and went to the
training school for nurses at Hartford.
Conn. where she graduated two years
later. Since then she has lived in Hart
ford.
Commenting on Indian women a. train
ed nurses a physician who has had much
experience with them in practice. said:
Indian girls seem to possess every requi-
remarkably intelligent and have nerve
and great courage: they never become
fiurried or excited. but keep their heads
perfectly in the most trying and critical
moments. They also, as a rule. possess
considerable physical strength and great
endurance: withal they are kind and at
tentive and follow out the doctors direc-
tions to the letter''-New York Tribune.