AUGUST 30, 1876

MOHAWK YOU-DA-GENT (DR. LILLIE ROSA MINOKA HILL) BORN-2ND NATIVE AMERICAN FEMALE PHYSICIAN

Born on St. Regis Reservation in New York, Lillie’s Mohawk mother died in childbirth. At age 5, her Quaker father took her to Philadelphia where she attended Grahame Institute for Girls. Lillie desired to be a nurse, but her father wanted her to be a physician. After a year in a convent, she earned her M.D. at Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1899. After interning, Lillie went into private practice. In 1905, she married Oneida Charles Hill and they moved to the Oneida reservation in Wisconsin (WI). The Oneida, who mistrusted the white physician who knew little about their traditions & beliefs, trusted her. In 1917, Lillie began her “kitchen-clinic.” Lacking a WI medical license, local doctors helped her by admitting her patients to hospitals, prescribing drugs, and, in 1934, helping her obtain her license. Awards: WI State Medical Association & the Indian Council Fire. Adopted by the Oneida, her name meant “She who serves.” Dr. Minoka-Hill died March 18, 1952, in Fond du Lac, WI. A monument erected to her reads in Oneida “I was sick and you visited me.”

Sources:

“Changing the Face of Medicine: Lillie Rosa Minoka-Hill,” National Institutes of Health.  Retrieved 10/24/2023, Changing the Face of Medicine | Lillie Rosa Minoka-Hill (nih.gov)

Wikipedia

Photo:  Author and date unknown, but likely circa 1900. Likely Public Domain, alternatively Fair Use   Source: NIH.