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.

Zitkala-sa, Why I Am A Pagan

Other writings by Zitkala-sa, Gutenberg Press

Files

Zitkala-Sa.jpg
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.