Susette LaFlesche Tibbles

An important advocate of Native American rights, Susette LaFlesche Tibbles was raised on the Omaha reservation in Nebraska. She worked as a teacher before becoming involved in a study of social conditions among the Plains tribes. She was accompanied in this work by Thomas Tibbles, a newspaper editor whom she married in 1887. Galvanized by the terrible conditions she observed, “Bright Eyes,” as she came to be known, served as an expert witness and worked as an interpreter in court cases that Native peoples brought against the federal government. She also received widespread fame as an orator, speaking out about the lack of rights afforded tribes.