American Indian Stories and Old Indian Legends

by Zitkála-Šá

"Whether your interest in Sioux folklore is great or small, you will find this a fascinating book to devour. Pick up a copy today and be thrilled." — The Reading Room
This accessible and affordable volume combines two essential collections by Sioux author Zitkala-Sa. American Indian Stories assembles short stories, autobiographical reflections, and political essays that offer poignant reflections on the author's sense of being stranded between the white and Native American worlds. Old Indian Legends features tales from the oral tradition — legends passed down through the generations that form a genre known as the "retold tale."
Born on South Dakota's Yankton Reservation in 1876, Zitkala-Sa felt "as free as the wind that blew my hair, and no less spirited than a bounding deer." At the age of eight, she traded her freedom for the iron discipline of a Quaker boarding school. Disillusioned by American society as well as her own tribe, Zitkala-Sa attended college, became a teacher, and wrote about her experiences in a variety of books and magazines. A prominent advocate for Native American rights throughout her life, she was a key figure in the legislation that granted Native Americans citizenship in 1924.

Genres: Native American, History, Nonfiction, Indigenous, Classics, School, American History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Zitkála-Šá (Dakota: pronounced zitkála-ša, which translates to "Red Bird") also known by the missionary-given name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Sioux writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles in her youth as she was pulled back and forth between the influences of dominant American culture and her own Native American heritage, as well as books in English that brought traditional Native American stories to a widespread white readership for one of the first times. With William F. Hanson, Bonnin co-composed the first American Indian opera, The Sun Dance (composed in romantic style based on Ute and Sioux themes), which premiered in 1913. She founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926 to lobby for the rights of Native Americans to American citizenship, and served as its president until her death in 1938.

Reviews

[Gala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gustó de estas leyendas que de alguna manera las podés leer como si fueran una novela. Siempre está el mismo personaje, Iktomi, y muchas empiezan desde el final de la leyenda anterior.

[Ricki Henschel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look into this very hard life and at the end there are folk tales... just lovely!

[Sarah Esh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing and vital, Zitkála-Šá tells her story of growing up on a reservation before going to a Quaker boarding school, what came after, and other stories of Native people surviving the ongoing settler-colonization of their land.

I read this for my Literature of the American Dream class, and between the activism that Šá accomplished and the continued discoveries of the atrocities committed at Indian boarding schools, this text is an important read. Her descriptions of her life are vivid, whether of the free movement of her childhood or the cruelties of the school. The book also includes her fiction, essays, and retold stories; all of these together bound up in a single book give a clear (though still specific) view of the experiences of Native Americans.

If you are interested in reading more Indigenous literature and learning more about the Indian boarding schools, pick this up. Read this anyway, since Šá was an incredible woman more people should know about.

[BVZM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zitkála-Šá was a woman belonging to two worlds: born in an Indian Reservation, aged eight she went to study in a Quaker boarding school, and later became a teacher and an activist for Native American rights. In the first half of this book, (a collection of two of her works) she describes her experience at the school, and her struggle to conform, or at lest get used, to the "paleface" rules; in the second half she puts in writing, I think for the first time, some of the Sioux child's tales and stories she grew up with. Both halves are enthralling: the first one because it puts, for once, we "palefaces" in the shoes of the stranger; the second one because it reveals a genuinely original mythology.
The book, long out of copyright, is easily available for free, and it's less than two hundred pages long: there are really no excuses for not reading it.
//
Zitkála-Šá era una donna in bilico tra due mondi: nata in una Riserva Indiana, a otto anni di età iniziò a studiare in una scuola Quacchera, e più tardi divenne un'insegnante e un'attivista per i diritti dei Nativi Americani. Nella prima metà di questo libro (una raccolta di due sue opere) descrive la sua esperienza nella scuola e i suoi sforzi per adeguarsi, o almeno abituarsi, alle regole dei "visi pallidi"; nella seconda mette per iscritto, credo per la prima volta, alcune delle favole e delle storie con cui è cresciuta. Entrambe le parti sono avvincenti: la prima perché mette, per una volta, noi "visi pallidi" nei panni dello straniero; la seconda perché svela una mitologia veramente originale e indipendente.
Il libro è facilmente e gratuitamente disponibile (almeno in inglese), visto che non è più protetto da copyright, ed è lungo meno di duecento pagine: non ci sono davvero scuse per non leggerlo.

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: American Indian Stories and Old Indian Legends
Author: Zitkala-Sa
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 8-20-2014
ISBN: 9780486780436
E-book ASIN: B00LIFOXF4
Pages: 160
Genre: Myth and Lore
Tags: History, Adult Literature
Overall Rating: Excellent 5.0
Reviewed For: NetGalley
Reviewer: DelAnne


Having Sioux and Apache in my bloodlines I have found the lore and history of the American Native Indian to be fascinating. The love of my heritage was instilled from an early age and I have continued to learn all that I can even unto my fifties.

Zitkala-Sa has gathered together in one place many of the Sioux stories only passed down through their history by teaching them orally from one generation to the next. Zitkala-Sa must have found the ways of the white man confining after growing up free to run and explore. After entering the Quaker boarding school. I am so pleased she had taken the time to compile these stories and pass them on to those who came after her so them might never be lost with the passage of time.


Whether your interest in Sioux folklore is great or small you will find this a fascinating book to devour. Pick up a copy today and be thrilled.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The oppression of the indigenous people and their legends tell a contrasting story of american society and indigenous society. The indigenous legends tell morals of keeping within nature don't conquer other people lands and don't disrespect others. While the Americans manifest destiny over their culture and destroyed their culture.

Indigenous culture is complex and impossible to summarize. But from Zitkála perspective you see is an interesting perspective. She doesn't reject modernity after her experience in boarding school. She even fully assimilates however her relationship with her mother becomes stale because she can't understand her culture anymore.

When she reconnect with the great spirit she criticizes Christianity for taking her mother. She can't relate and says it is superstition. This is complicated but I theorize that the great spirit to her is living with nature not mold it like Christianity. At that time those Christianso were industrial powerhouse so it contrast from the nomadic indigenous people. So in my mind she sees Christianity as destructive rather than helpful. It really is a conflict of nature vs industrial. That is why I think she criticizes Christianity.

Overall this book is quite fascinating. We get a glimpse of her indigenous culture and their way of living while also seeing her assimilate to the american culture and the slow death of her culture. I give it a solid 4.5/10 because some of the writing can be confusing because the culture is so different. Other than that the stories she write are beautiful and deserved to be taught in literature classes.

[Sally Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beginning of this book gives insight into the mind of an Indian child who must leave her home and traditions to learn English and a new way of life. How the author is torn between two different worlds. How she can find the best of each of them.

If you were read fairy tales as a child, then you will understand and enjoy the Indian folk lore stories in the second half of this book, including a mischievous man whose greed gets the better of him in each story.

[Johnnie Each · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good! There's an old indian legend about this guy that murdered his friend and then the family of the guy he killed adopts him as their new son. It's a story about radical restoration. The gospel is written on all of our hearts!

[Patti Rivard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history and stories were powerful, just struggled to read with the jumping and abrupt style of writing.

[Bree Muske · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for class

[Meg Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really glad I picked this up. Zitkála-Šá's writing is moving and raw, telling such valuable stories.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

American Indian Stories and Old Indian Legends is a quite an interesting read. The short stories of the Sioux that had been orally passed down through the generations by the author's ancestors are fascinating. I recommend this book for those who want to read real stories and legends of the Sioux. Five stars.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some stories and didn't love others, but I'm glad I read this because I haven't read a lot of Native American literature. I thought the legends were really interesting, and the more autobiographical stories were also pretty interesting.

Received from NetGalley.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important, if uneven collection. Some pieces I found hard to get into, but at its best her writing is sublimely beautiful.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars: read this for class--it honestly wasn't that bad.