Some Native people could distrust the institutions she represented.

She had to satisfy professional standards shaped by white male medicine while remaining useful to a community with its own traditions and political concerns.

There was no neutral position.

Every choice could be interpreted.

Her clothing could be read politically.

Her religion could be read politically.

Her medical methods could be read politically.

Her position on land allotment could be read politically.

Her use of English could be read politically.

Even success itself could be used by outsiders to make claims about what all Native people should become.