Francis La Flesche - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Francis La Flesche was born in 1857 on the Omaha Reservation, the first child of his father Joseph LaFlesche's second wife Ta-in-ne, and half-brother to his father's first five children. Their mother was Mary Gale, daughter of an American surgeon and his Iowa wife. After Mary's death, the widower Joseph (also known as Iron Eye) married Ta-in-ne, an Omaha woman. Francis attended the Presbyterian Mission School at Bellevue, Nebraska. Later he attended college and law school in Washington, DC.

By 1853, Iron Eye was a chief of the Omaha; he helped negotiate the 1854 treaty by which the tribe sold most of their land in Nebraska. He led the tribe as a head chief soon after their removal to a reservation and in the major transition to more sedentary lives. Joseph (Iron Eye) was Métis, of French and Ponca descent, and grew up mostly with the Omaha people. Working first as a fur trader, as an adult he had been adopted as a son by the chief Big Elk, who designated Iron Eyes as his successor.

Joseph emphasized education for all his children; several went to schools and colleges in the East. They were encouraged to contribute to their people. Francis' half-siblings became accomplished adults: Susette LaFlesche was an activist and nationally known speaker on issues of Indian rights and reform; Rosalie LaFlesche Farley was an activist and managed Omaha tribal financial affairs; and Susan La Flesche was the first Native American woman to become a western-style doctor; she treated the Omaha for years.