Credit: Photo courtesy of Sequoyah National Research Center
Edith Anderson, who was born near Brantford, Ontario, moved to the U.S. because she was unable to pursue higher education due to Canada’s Indian Act without risking losing her legal Indian status. She trained at New Rochelle School of Nursing in New York, becoming the first Canadian Indigenous nurse in 1914. She served in Vittel, France, in 1918 and 1919 and spent the rest of her life working to improve indigenous healthcare.