Joseph LaFlesche

Joseph LaFlesche (ca 1820-1888), also known as "E-sta-mah-za" or Iron Eye, was the last recognized chief according to the old rituals of the Omaha tribe of Native Americans. He was the son of French fur trader Joseph LaFlesche and his Ponca Indian wife. Iron Eye became the adopted son of Chief Big Elk of the Omaha; Big Elk personally selected him as his successor.

LaFlesche married Mary Gale, daughter of Dr. John Gale, a surgeon at Ft. Atkinson, and his Iowa wife "Ni-co-ma". [ [http://www.nde.state.ne.us/SS/notables/tibbles.html "Susette "Bright Eyes" LaFlesche Tibbles"] , Nebraska website] They had seven children. They believed that the future of American Indians lay in education and assimilation, including the adoption of the white man's agriculture and in accepting Christianity. This was met with some resistance among members of the tribe.

Iron Eye and Mary encouraged their children to get educations and work for the tribe. They included the accomplished Native American activists Susette LaFlesche Tibbles, Rosalie LaFlesche Player and Francis LaFlesche (who also became an ethnologist for the Smithsonian), and physician Susan LaFlesche Picotte. Although these siblings disagreed about political and economic issues, all of them worked to improve the quality of life for Native Americans, particularly the Omaha tribe in Nebraska. Rosalie helped negotiate grazing treaties for the tribe's herds and worked with an ethnologist from the University of Pennsylvania to collect traditions and stories from the tribes.

References

External links

* [http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/manuscripts/family/laflesche-family.htm "LaFlesche Family"] , Biographical Note, Archives, Nebraska State Historical Society