{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.028225806451612902, 'fraction_numerical': 0.013888888888888888, 'mean_word_length': 5.117808219178082, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 1, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
"Right in the Midst of My Own People": Native American Women and the Field Matron Program

IN JANUARY 1892 INDIAN AGENT Major George LeR. Brown asked the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) for assistance with the Pine Ridge reservation population. Little more than a year after Sioux attempts to reclaim a fading tribal past ended tragically at Wounded Knee, he found precious little evidence of individual or community progress toward "civilization." The agent, arguing that "the pressing need [here] is for better homes and better cooking," requested the appointment of a field matron.1 Implementing an innovative Indian Service program begun in 1890, field matrons promoted assimilation through intensive domestic work with Indian women. Brown believed that Julia Kocer was an ideal candidate for the post. Interested in introducing tribal women to the "ways of White Women," she appeared to personify the "certified civilizer" reformers and OIA policy makers hoped to attract to the program. Major Brown saw Kocer as a potential catalyst for change at Pine Ridge. The OIA, however, did not share his enthusiasm.2 Neither impeccable qualifications nor genuine interest could alter the fact that Julia Kocer differed from other prospective field matrons. They were all Anglo-Americans. Educated, competent, and respectable, she was a mixed-blood Arikara Indian. The first Native American field matron might have been Julia Kocer. Assimilated and concerned with the welfare of her Arikara peers, she clearly represented the "new" Indian woman the OIA hoped to create.3 Nonetheless, the field matron corps remained closed to women like her until 1895. Then, Indian women could join AngloAmerican women in helping their tribal peers accept the "White Woman's [sic] road." From 1895 to 1905, they played an active and occasionally prominent role in civilization work. Neither their participation nor their visibility, though, could guarantee a permanent place in the program. While field matrons continued their work on reservations until the 1930s, Native American involvement declined rapidly after 1905. The story of Native American field matrons is a special, albeit abbreviated, chapter in the larger history of the field matron pro-