That position was controversial.

Some Omaha people wanted to preserve older patterns of life as much as possible.

Others believed changes in housing, farming, education, religion, and economic organization were unavoidable.

Joseph La Flesche encouraged his children to learn English and gain the kind of schooling that could help them operate inside American institutions.

But the La Flesche family’s story cannot be reduced to a simple choice between “traditional” and “white.”

They remained Omaha.

Their political work, ambitions, and family relationships continued to be shaped by the future of the Omaha people.

Susan grew up watching adults argue about what survival required.

Her siblings would later become important public figures in their own right.

Her sister Susette La Flesche, known as Bright Eyes, became an interpreter, writer, lecturer, and advocate whose work was crucial during Ponca Chief Standing Bear’s famous 1879 legal struggle.