American Indian StoriesA groundbreaking Dakota author and activist chronicles her refusal to assimilate into nineteenth-century white society and her mission to preserve her culture—with an introduction by Layli Long Soldier, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award for Whereas Bright and carefree, Zitkála-Šá grows up on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota with her mother until Quaker missionaries arrive, offering the reservation’s children a free education. The catch: They must leave their parents behind and travel to Indiana. Curious about the world beyond the reservation, Zitkála-Šá begs her mother to let her go—and her mother, aware of the advantages that an education offers, reluctantly agrees. But the missionary school is not the adventure that Zitkála-Šá expected: The school is a strict one, her long hair is cut short, and only English is spoken. She encounters racism and ridicule. Slowly, Zitkála-Šá adapts to her environment—excelling at her studies, winning prizes for essay-writing and oration. But the price of success is estrangement from her cultural roots—and is it one she is willing to pay? Combining Zitkála-Šá’s childhood memories, her short stories, and her poetry, American Indian Stories is the origin story of an activist in the making, a remarkable woman whose extraordinary career deserves wider recognition. The Modern Library Torchbearers series features women who wrote on their own terms, with boldness, creativity, and a spirit of resistance. |
Contents
IMPREssions of AN INDIAN CHILDHood | 3 |
THE School DAYs of AN INDIAN GIRL | 26 |
AN INDIAN TEACHER AMONG INDIANS | 46 |
THE GREAT SPIRIT | 57 |
THE TRIAL PATH | 72 |
A WARRIORs DAUGHTER | 78 |
A DREAM of HER GRANDFATHER | 89 |
AMERICAs INDIAN PROBLEM | 107 |
A BALLAD | 117 |
IRIs of LIFE | 125 |
A Sioux Wom ANs LovE FoR HER GRANDCHILD | 132 |
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Common terms and phrases
aloud answer asked aunt back-fire beaded beadwork began blanket Blue-Star Woman breadmaking breath bright Bright Eyes brother Dawée buckskin center fire cheeks chieftain child cold ashes cried Dakota dance dared dwelling ears eyes face fear feet fried bread gone grandchild grandmother grass grew ground hair hand head hear heard hills Iktomi Indian girl Indian woman iron horse Judéwin knew land laughed light lips looked man-killer medicine-man missionaries Missouri River moccasins morning mother night old warrior Osseolo paleface woman pipe pony pony's prairie quiet rawhide red apples river roam shadow shoulders silence Sioux smoke snow song soon spirit stars stood story strong sunflowers sweet talk tall tears teepee tell tepee told tribe turned turnips Tusee village voice warrior father watched white man's wigwam wild wind winter women words young braves Zitkāla-Sá's