The School Days of an Indian Girl, and an Indian Teacher Among Indians

by Zitkála-Šá, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (1876-1938), better known by her pen name, Zitkala-Sa, was a Native American writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist. She was born and raised on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota by her mother. Zitkala-Sa lived a traditional lifestyle until the age of eight when she left her reservation to attend Whites Manual Labor Institute, a Quaker mission school in Indiana. She went on to study for a time at Earlham College in Indiana and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. A considerable talent, Bonnin co-composed the first American Indian grand opera, The Sun Dance in 1913. After working as a teacher at Carlisle Indian Industrial School, she began publishing short stories and autobiographical vignettes. Her autobiographical writings were serialized in Atlantic Monthly and, later, published in a collection called American Indian Stories in 1921. Her first book, Old Indian Legends (1901), is a collection of folktales that she gathered during her visits home to the Yankton Reservation. Her other works include Stories of Iktomi and Other Legends of the Dakotas (1901) and Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians (1924).

Genres: Short Stories, Nonfiction, Indigenous, Classics, History, Read For School, Memoir

34 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

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

[Shatovisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2nd chapter of this story, ‘The Cutting of My Long Hair’, is in our syllabus for class 12th. I felt the excerpt very intriguing, and couldn't hold on myself, and finished reading the whole thing just now. It feels so satisfying!

Talking about the story, it is the account of the young Zitkala- Sa, a Native American, referred to here as Red Indian, who was brought to the Carlisle Indian School, a boarding house, among others of her own tribe.

The narrator talks about how her customs and beliefs were looked down upon by the Whites. In the boarding, there was a well-defined formula for performing everything.

Quoting from the text, “And though my spirit tore itself in struggling for its lost freedom, all was useless.”

[Ayushi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was part of the syllabus but the entire book is so delightful and charming, specially the goof ups and how zitkala learns to stand up for herself.
recommended to 12th graders.

[Zach Castinado · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have found reading the raw writing of other voices the most clear and effective way to understanding the experiences of others. This is more than worth the time and effort to read the many realities of those who were colonized and forced into boarding schools.

[kristyn ☼ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a piece of history so rarely discussed in the United States. So many Native children suffered in these schools and we are lucky if we learn about it today, even though there are survivors everywhere around us. Beautiful writing.

[Sita · Rating 5 out of 5]

imagine being totally stripped of your own cultural identity because white people think they are cooler than you 👍👍👍👍

on a serious note, let us never forget the misery and inhumanity that occurred in american indian boarding schools. stories like these should be taught everywhere

[dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

read for my multiethnic literature class

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading challenge: read a book by a Native American author.

[Rebecca Timberlake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Impressions of an Indian Childhood, and was eager to read this story, but this was not as good as Impressions. It was still enjoyable, just not as much as the first.

[Heather Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and heartbreaking read.