She could speak to reform organizations in language they understood.

She could raise money.

She could enter spaces from which most Native women were excluded.

The credential did not eliminate racism.

It gave her leverage inside racist institutions.

This is one reason her story fits into a broader history of Native professionals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Lawyers, doctors, writers, clergy, teachers, and scholars emerged from Native communities and used American credentials in different ways.

Some became advocates for assimilation.

Some defended sovereignty.

Many did both at different moments because the political landscape was shifting constantly.