Zitkala-sa
Title
Zitkala-sa
Subject
American Indian rights
Description
Prolific writer and activist for the preservation of Native-American culture
Creator
Amy French
Source
Image: Wiki Commons, public domain
Birth Date
1876
Birthplace
Yankton Indian Reservation, South Dakota, USA
Death Date
1938
Occupation
Writer
Biographical Text
Zitkala-sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin also known as Red Bird) was a Native American writer and teacher most famous for her work in the preservation of Native American culture. Born on a reservation, Zitkala-sa was sent to a boarding school as part of an American movement to force assimilation on the Native population. After graduation, she attend college and became a prolific writer. Her writings were widely circulated in the early 1900s, appearing in the Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s Monthly. Among her most famous pieces, Why I am Pagan, spoke of the pressure on Native Americans to conform to Christianity. A political activist, she also exposed major American corporations which defrauded Native Americans by using robbery and even murder to gain control of their oil-rich land. The work paved the path for the government to pass the Indian Reorganization Act of 1924.
Bibliography
Capaldi, Gina. Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Sa, Native American Author, Musician, and Activist. (Millbrook Press, 2011).
Fisher, Dexter. "Zitkala Sa: The Evolution of a Writer." American Indian Quarterly, vol. 5, no. 3 (August 1979), pp. 229–238.
- Date Added
- June 16, 2014
- Collection
- Reform (Social or Labor)
- Item Type
- Person
- Citation
- Amy French, “Zitkala-sa,” Women Who Dared, accessed March 29, 2024, https://womenwhodared.omeka.net/items/show/54.