Medicine, Beatrice A. (1923—)

Native-American anthropologist, teacher, and author . Born on the Standing Rock Reservation, Wakpala, South Dakota, on August 1, 1923 (some sources cite 1924); South Dakota State University, B.S.; Michigan State University, M.A.; University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D.; married and divorced; children: one son, Clarence.

Beatrice A. Medicine was born on the Standing Rock Reservation in Wakpala, South Dakota, in 1923. A member of the Lakota (Sioux) Sihasapa tribe, she took up the study of anthropology to better understand her Native American heritage. Medicine received her B.S. in anthropology from South Dakota State University and went on to obtain an M.A. from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The focus of her studies was the development of Native American family life and the role of women in Native American culture and society, but she also worked to establish a better public understanding of Native American life. Married and divorced, as a single parent Medicine raised her son in accordance with traditional Lakota culture. She taught at many leading centers of Native American studies, including San Francisco State College and the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

In addition to her busy academic career, Medicine promoted the social welfare of Native American communities, advocating public policies to benefit Native Americans and helping to establish leadership development programs as well as urban community centers for Native Americans. In 1977, she was honored as the Sacred Pipe Woman of the revived Lakota Sun Dance. Medicine received the Distinguished Service

Award of the American Anthropological Association in 1991.

Grant Eldridge , freelance writer, Pontiac, Michigan