Louisiana Leta "Lula" Owl Gloyne ( – ) was an American nurse. She was the first member of the

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), (Cherokee language, Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᏱ ᏕᏣᏓᏂᎸᎩ, ''Tsalagiyi Detsadanilvgi'') is a Federally recognized tribe, federally recognized Indian Tribe based in Western North Carolina in the U ...

and perhaps the first Native American to become a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

. She was the only Eastern Cherokee to serve as an officer in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life and education

She was born Louisiana Leta Owl on in North Carolina, the eldest of ten children of Daniel Lloyd Owl, a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

blacksmith, and Nettie Harris Owl, a Catawba traditional potter. Her parents did not speak each other's tribal languages, so English was the language of the household. Her mother encouraged education, telling them "You must go to school so you can have the kinds of things white people have." Lula Owl and six of her surviving siblings all obtained professional careers. Lula Owl attended Cherokee Boarding School on the

Qualla Boundary The Qualla Boundary or The Qualla is territory held as a land trust by the United States government for the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who reside in western North Carolina. The area is part of the large historic Chero ...

, and in 1907 she began at the Hampton Institute in Virginia. Though founded as a school for African-Americans, from 1878 to 1923 over one thousand Native American students attended Hampton, including Owl and her siblings. Lula Owl graduated in 1914, then spent a year teaching Catawba children in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Owl attended the Chestnut Hill Hospital School of Nursing in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, graduating in 1916. She spent two years as the nurse of St. Elizabeth's Episcopal School on the

Standing Rock Indian Reservation The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...

. During World War I, Owl joined the Army Nurse Corps. Her seasickness prevented the journey to Europe to serve there as a field nurse, so instead she served at Camp Lewis in Washington as a second lieutenant and thereby became the only Eastern Cherokee to serve as an officer in World War I. She was also the first Cherokee to hold a position in healthcare on

. After World War I, Gloyne worked as a nurse at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Oklahoma. Gloyne had four children, including two daughters. One daughter, Mollie Blankenship, was elected to the Cherokee tribal council, while the other daughter, Mary Gloyne Byler, is a writer and educator.

Later life

When she was 84 years old, Gloyne started bowling, which is described in a 1981 remembrance written by Kays Gary, a reporter for

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

. She died on 17 April 1985.

Awards and honors

Gloyne was nominated for the Distinguished Women of North Carolina award in 1985,and the Cherokee Tribe named her a "Beloved Woman", as of 2012 only three women have been bestowed this honor. She was inducted into the North Carolina Nurse’s Hall of Fame in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloyne, Lula 1891 births 1985 deaths American women nurses Cherokee people on the Baker Roll Eastern Band Cherokee women Hampton University alumni American people of Catawba descent