Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938)
Author of American Indian Stories
About the Author
Image credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
(REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-USZ62-119349)
Works by Zitkala-Ša
Associated Works
Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women (1989) — Contributor — 325 copies
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020) — Contributor — 252 copies
La nueva mujer: Relatos de escritoras estadounidenses del siglo XIX — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Zitkala-Ša
- Legal name
- Zitkala-Ša
- Other names
- Red Bird
Zitkala Ša
Bonnin, Gertrude Simmons (name given to her by missionaries) - Birthdate
- 1876-02-22
- Date of death
- 1938-01-26
- Burial location
- Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, USA
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Yankton Dakota
- Country (for map)
- USA
- Birthplace
- Yankton Indian Reservation, South Dakota, USA
- Place of death
- Washington, DC, USA
- Places of residence
- Yankton Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, USA
- Education
- White's Manual Labor Institute
Earlham College
New England Conservatory of Music - Occupations
- teacher
musician
composer
writer
editor
Native activist - Organizations
- Society of American Indians
General Federation of Women's Clubs
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Awards and honors
- Venusian crater named in her honor
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 19
- Also by
- 13
- Members
- 907
- Popularity
- #28,275
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 34
- ISBNs
- 138
- Languages
- 2
- Favorited
- 2
Overall, the writing quality is good. It's also easy to understand for modern readers. The legends in particular reminded me very much of the fairytales I was told as I child, and it didn't surprise me to learn that the author had herself been told them as a child. I could easily imagine parents choosing to read these to their own children or teachers including them in a school curriculum even today. The other sections clearly have an adult audience in mind, and the style becomes a bit more sophisticated as a result, but overall I would describe it as being very straight-forward.
My favorite parts were the legends and the semi-autobiographical stories. The latter in particular were extremely powerful and incredibly interesting given the time period in which the author lived. These stretch from early childhood through her life as a teacher and her ultimate decision to resign that position, but it does not go far beyond that. My biggest disappointment was that there were no more sections continuing her story. My second biggest was that some of her decision making is not explained in greater depth. If she had written a full memoir, I can only imagine how enlightening it would have been.
As for the other selections, I definitely liked some more than others. In general, I wished that a short section of context would have been given as an introduction to each rather than one giant introduction being given at the beginning of the book. I didn't read that introduction until the end, at which point I couldn't decide whether that had been a good decision or not. On one hand, it contained some spoilers I wouldn't have appreciated, and it drags on so long before the book has given you any stories that make you care to learn more about their author. On the other hand, it would have given me some of that context I was craving when I got to the essays and articles and other miscellaneous pieces. Either way, I would have appreciated even more historical context for some of the pieces, but perhaps this book was intended to be read in a more academic manner by people already studying the history.
I can't give my opinion of this book as a scholar or as an expert on the pertinent history or as anything more than what I am, but as a reader near the beginning of my learning process, I can say this book contributed a lot. Modern readers should be aware that Zitkála-Šá uses the terminology that was in use during her time, and at some points I felt as if she was unintentionally expressing some degree of internalized racism, but I do believe it's incredibly valuable when viewed in the proper historical context. I don't see this as the one book you should read to gain an understanding but rather one step on a journey that should include modern voices also. Learning history from those who lived through it can help us understand how situations evolved over time to create the world in which modern people live and modern authors write from, so I'm looking forward to building on the knowledge I've gained by reading this book. I would recommend it (or at least the autobiographical stories) to anyone who wants the same experience.… (more)