Zitkala Sa

Zitkala-Sa, who was also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She documented her struggle with cultural identity, balancing her Dakota upbringing with her education in the majority culture. Her later books were among the first to share traditional Native American stories with a wide English-speaking audience.

Quick Overview

Zitkala-Ša was a Native American activist. Zitkala-Sa was the co-founder of the National Council of American Indians. She founded the council in 1926. Her contribution to the civil rights movement for Native Americans was groundbreaking. She fought tirelessly for their right to U.S. citizenship and advocated for the recognition of their cultural identity. Zitkala-Ša's dedication to the cause was so unwavering that she served as the council's president until her passing in 1938.

Zitkala-Ša was a highly influential Native American activist in the 20th century. Her legacy continues to inspire generations of Native Americans to this day. She collaborated with American musician William F. Hanson to write the libretto and songs for The Sun Dance Opera (1913), which was the first American Indian opera. Her artistic and cultural contributions were an essential part of her activism, and her work paved the way for future generations of Native American artists and activists. The opera, which was composed in a romantic musical style, drew inspiration from Sioux and Ute cultural themes.

Birth

On February 22, 1876, Zitkala-Sa was born. Zitkala's birth town was Yankton Indian Reservation.

Family

Zitkala lived on the reservation during her early childhood. She used to live with her mother. Zitkala's mother belonged to Sioux Dakota heritage. Zitkala's father was an Anglo-American.

Marriage

Zitkala was engaged to Carlos Montezuma, a Yavapi (Mohave-Apache), in early 1901. However, she broke off the relationship by August. The reason why Carlos and Zitkala broke up was because Carlos didn't want to give up his private medical practice in Chicago. Zitkala wanted to return to the Yankton Indian Agency, but Carlos didn't want to move there.

In 1902, Zitkala-Ša got married to Raymond Talephause Bonnin, who was of Yankton-European ancestry and cultural Yankton. Soon after their wedding, the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) assigned Bonnin to the Uintah-Ouray reservation in Utah. The couple spent the next fourteen years living and working with the Ute people. During this period, Zitkala-Ša gave birth to their only child, Raymond Ohiya Bonnin.

During World War I, Bonnin enlisted in the U.S. Army after the United States declared war on the German Empire in 1917. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1918 and served in the Quarter Master Corps in Washington, D.C. He got out of the army as a captain in 1920, and it was an honorable discharge.

Early Life

At the age of eight years Zitkala got to know about boarding schools. She saw that missionaries came to the Yankton reservation from the White's Manual Labor Institute in Indiana. The missionaries were there to recruit students. Missionaries shared stories about picking red apples from big fields and riding trains.

Zitkala-Sa had an older brother. Her brother had already returned from one such school recently. Zitkala's mother was not willing to allow her daughter to go away to any of those boarding schools. However, Zitkala-Sa was one of those children who had never been out of the reservation. For her, the boarding school was like a magical place. Hence, Zitkala-Sa was interested in going.

Zitkala-Sa's mother finally agreed to her admission to a boarding school after a series of debate-like discussions. Zitkala's mother did not want her beloved daughter to leave. She was unsure of the white strangers, but her fear about the ending of Dakota's way of life led her to go. The reservation had no schools, and the only mode of education left as an option for them was the boarding school.

Zitkala-Sa shared through her autobiography about her guilt of not agreeing to her mother's denial and begging her mother to let her go. The moment Zitkala boarded the train, she realized that she was about to spend years away from her family, her people, and everything she knew. She was not aware of the English language, and tribal languages were not allowed at the boarding school. She had to change her Dakota culture to an "American" one.

Schooling

Zitkala-Sa's initial days at the school were highly dramatic and full of trauma. She got to know that every student has to get a haircut. The religious culture of Dakota could have only let her have the haircut if she was a coward whom the enemy had captured. To avoid a haircut, Zitkala-Sa hid herself in an empty room. Unfortunately, Dakota was found by the staff of the school underneath a bed, and they dragged her out. They hold her by tying her to a chair. That day, Zitkala-Sa lost her braids and cried a lot.

Zitkala-Sa could sense that in the boarding school, she was treated no more like an animal, and no one cared about her feelings. Staff misbehaved with the children like the students were some "little animals."

A few years passed, and Zitkala-Sa got permission to visit her mother during a school break. During her visit, the protagonist's mother urged her to quit school and stay at home. However, the protagonist later confessed that the visit left her feeling unhappy, so she decided to return to school. The feeling of unhappiness is a common feeling among children who have left their reservations for school. The experience changes them, making them feel like they no longer belong where they once did.

Graduation

Zitkala-Sa graduated in 1895 and joined a teacher training program at Earlham College in Indiana. She was one of the few Indigenous students in the program. Later, she switched to the New England Conservatory of Music to study the violin. In 1900, she started teaching music and speech at the Carlisle Indian School, which was a well-known boarding school in the United States.

Zitkala-Sa worked at the Carlisle School for less than two years. During her time there, she observed the arrival of a new generation of young children who were forced to have their hair brutally cut. This experience reminded her of her traumatic education. As she witnessed the school's practices, she began to question why the children were required to give up their entire culture in exchange for an education. She also noticed that the staff treated the children cruelly. Later, she learned that the government paid the school for every child who was successfully removed from a reservation. This realization made her understand that the schools were designed to erase her people's culture.

In 1916, Zitkala-Sa and her husband moved to Washington, D.C. to actively fight for the rights of Indigenous people. She worked at the Society for American Indians and American Indian Magazine. In 1926, Zitkala-Sa and her husband established the National Council of American Indians. Additionally, she organized the Indian Welfare Committee for the National General Federation of Women's Clubs.

Zitkala-Sa had a strained relationship with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs due to her fight to preserve Indigenous culture. She believed that the Bureau was doing the opposite of what was necessary to preserve it. As a result of her efforts, public awareness was raised on many issues related to Indigenous people like education, economics, employment, health, and religion.

Zitkala-Sa was an activist whose efforts directly influenced government policy. She was instrumental in getting the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 passed. She also helped in the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. She played a key role by helping through her representation of organizations and committees. These laws were instrumental in helping Indigenous people gain American citizenship and regain control of their lives from federal government intervention.

Teachings

From 1897 to 1899, Zitkala-Ša attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she studied the violin and played it as well. After completing her studies, she took up a teaching position at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where she taught music to children. During this time, she also organized and facilitated debates on the treatment of Native Americans.

In 1900, Zitkala-Ša performed on the violin with the Carlisle Indian Band at the Paris Exposition. During the same year, she started writing articles about Native American life. Her articles were published in prominent national periodicals like the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Monthly. In her articles, she provided a critical assessment of the American Indian boarding school system. Unlike most of her contemporaries who wrote more idealistically, she vividly portrayed the Indian deracination.

In 1901, Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, who founded Carlisle, asked Zitkala-Ša to visit the Yankton Reservation and find students. This was her first visit in several years, and she was saddened to see her mother's house in poor condition. After her visit to her home reservation, Zitkala-Ša found out that her brother's family had become poor. Furthermore, white settlers had started occupying lands that were meant to be allocated to the Yankton Dakota tribe under the Dawes Act of 1887.

Upon returning to the Carlisle School, Zitkala-Ša had conflicts with Pratt. She didn't like his strict program of assimilating Native Americans into the dominant white culture or the limitations of the curriculum. The curriculum designed for Native American children assumed they would return to rural cultures and only prepared them for low-level manual work. In the same year, she wrote an article in the Harper's Monthly magazine about the deep sense of loss of identity experienced by a Native American boy after undergoing an assimilationist education at the school. The story, titled "The Soft-Hearted Sioux," was called "trash" by Pratt. As a result, in 1901, Zitkala-Ša was dismissed from the Carlisle School.

Zitkala-Sa's career took a positive turn when she landed a job as a clerk at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. It was during this time that she most likely crossed paths with Bonnin, who would become an important figure in her life.

Zitkala-Ša had a successful writing career that consisted of two main periods. The first period lasted from 1900 to 1904, during which she published legends. Zitkala had collections inspired by the Native American culture. Her collections were mostly autobiographical narratives.

Zitkala-Sa wrote extensively in the years that followed, but she has yet to publish any of her work. Her unpublished writings, which included the libretto of the Sun Dance Opera, were eventually collected and published after she died in 2001. The book was titled Dreams and Thunder: Stories, Poems, and the Sun Dance Opera.

Zitkala-Ša, a Native American writer, had her articles published in the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Monthly between 1900 and 1902. Her articles in the Atlantic Monthly included "An Indian Teacher Among Indians," "Impressions of an Indian Childhood," "School Days of an Indian Girl," and "Why I Am a Pagan," which was published in 1902. In Why I Am a Pagan, "Zitkala-Ša shared her personal spiritual beliefs and challenged the notion that Native Americans were easily swayed by Christianity imposed on them in schools and public life. Her other articles, "Soft-Hearted Sioux" and "The Trial Path," were published in Harper's Monthly in 1901. Additionally, Zitkala-Ša wrote "A Warrior's Daughter," which was published in 1902 in Volume 6 of Everybody's Magazine.

Zitkala-Sa's literary works are often characterized by the conflicts between her Native American cultural heritage and the pressure to assimilate into white American society. This tension between tradition and assimilation, as well as between literature and politics, provides much of the dynamic energy in her writing.

During the second phase of her writing career, spanning from 1916 to 1924, Zitkala-Sa focused more on writing and publishing political works. She and her husband moved to Washington, D.C. during this time, where she became actively involved in political causes. American Indian Stories of 1921 were among Zitkala-Sa's most influential writings. These were published during this period by the Hayworth Publishing House. Zitkala-Sa's literary works are often characterized by the conflicts between her Native American cultural heritage and the pressure to assimilate into white American society. This tension between tradition and assimilation, as well as between literature and politics, provides much of the dynamic energy in her writing.

During the second phase of her writing career, spanning from 1916 to 1924, Zitkala-Sa focused more on writing and publishing political works. She and her husband moved to Washington, D.C. during this time, where she became actively involved in political causes.

Zitkala-Sa, Charles H. Fabens, and Matthew K. Sniffen co-authored an important 1923 pamphlet titled "Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians." The pamphlet highlighted the corrupt practices and exploitation of the Native American tribes in Oklahoma. This pamphlet contained information about Stella Mason and others. Additionally, she established the Indian Welfare Committee of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and worked as a researcher for it for much of the 1920s.

American Indian Stories

American Indian Stories is a book that comprises childhood stories, allegorical fiction, and an essay. It includes several articles by Zitkala-Ša that were first published in Harper's Monthly and Atlantic Monthly. The book was first published in 1921. It is about the difficulties that she and other Native Americans faced in the missionary and manual labor schools that aimed to "civilize" them and assimilate them into the majority culture.

In her autobiography, Zitkala-Ša discusses the contrast between the beauty of her early life on the reservation and the harsh "iron routine" she was subjected to in assimilation boarding schools. She wrote that her Indian nature is like the moaning wind that stirs the schoolteachers now for their present record.

Indian Legends

In 1901, the Boston publisher Ginn and Company commissioned a book titled "Old Indian Legends." The book is a collection of stories, some of which the author had learned as a child and others she had gathered from various Native American tribes. The book was primarily aimed at children and was an attempt to preserve Native American traditions and stories in print. The author also sought to gain respect and recognition for Native American culture from a dominant European-American culture.

Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians

In 1923, the Indian Rights Association published an article titled "Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians," written by Zitkala-Ša. Within this article, Zitkala-Ša exposed several American corporations that were working to defraud Native American tribes, particularly the Osage, who had oil-rich lands. These corporations used illegal methods such as robbery and murder to acquire the rights to lease fees from the development of the Osage's land. During the 1920s, numerous Osage were murdered.

The work that was done had a significant impact on Congress, leading them to pass the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. This act encouraged tribes to regain their self-government, including the management of their lands. As a result, the government returned some lands to them as communal property, which was previously classified as surplus. This allowed them to put together parcels that could be managed effectively.

Political Involvement

Zitkala-Ša was politically active for most of her adult life. While she was on the Uintah-Ouray reservation in Utah, she was a part of the Society of American Indians (SAI). The SAI's objective was to preserve the Native American way of life while advocating for full American citizenship rights. The council stationery's letterhead stated that the SAI aimed to "help Indians help themselves in protecting their rights and properties."Zitkala-Ša became SAI's secretary in 1916. Since the late 20th century, some activists have criticized SAI and Zitkala-Ša for advocating citizenship and employment rights for Native Americans. These critics believe that Native Americans have lost their cultural identity by integrating into mainstream American society.

Zitkala-Ša and her family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1916 after she was appointed as the national secretary for the SAI. As part of her job, she corresponded with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and began to criticize their practices. In particular, she spoke out against their attempts to prevent Native American children from using their native languages and cultural practices at national boarding schools. She also reported incidents of abuse when children refused to pray in a Christian manner.

In her position as national secretary, Zitkala-Ša took on a crucial role in promoting the cultural and tribal identity of Native Americans. She embarked on a series of lectures all across the country, with the aim of raising awareness about the unique heritage of indigenous peoples. During the 1920s, she became a leading voice in the pan-Indian movement, advocating for unity among all of America's tribes in their struggle for citizenship rights. Her tireless efforts, combined with those of other activists, culminated in the passing of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. This landmark legislation granted U.S. citizenship rights to the large population of indigenous peoples, who had previously been denied them, marking a significant victory for the Native American community.

Although Native Americans were granted citizenship, they still faced discrimination, and in some states, they were not allowed to vote. This situation persisted until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Zitkala-Ša founded the National Council of American Indians (NCAI), along with her husband, in 1926 to unite the tribes across the United States and fight for full citizenship rights through suffrage. Zitkala-Ša was the president, major fundraiser, and speaker of the NCAI from 1926 until she died in 1938. Unfortunately, her early work was mostly forgotten. The organization was rebuilt in 1944.

Zitkala-Ša was also involved in the women's rights movement in the 1920s. She joined the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) in 1921, an organization that aimed to promote diversity in its membership and maintain a public voice for women's concerns. In 1924, she established the Indian Welfare Committee through the GFWC.

Zitkala-Ša took action to stop the exploitation of Native Americans in Oklahoma. She brought the matter to the attention of the government. Additionally, she went on a speaking tour across the country as a representative of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. During this tour, she advocated for the abolition of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Zitkala-Ša was involved in various organizing activities for Native Americans. One of her initiatives was to conduct a voter registration drive to encourage Native Americans to support the Curtis Bill. She believed that the bill would be advantageous for Indians. The Curtis Bill granted Native Americans U.S. citizenship, but it did not allow those living on reservations to vote in local and state elections. Despite this, Zitkala-Ša continued to work for the civil rights of Indigenous peoples and to advocate for better access to healthcare and education until she died in 1938.

Death

Zitkala-Sa passed away in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 1938. Throughout her life, she actively opposed the process of assimilating indigenous culture into the American culture. Her writings continued to influence policymakers long after her death.