Native American Woman: Zitkala-Sa

Vanessa Melton-Wampler SOCI3093. 50 butt 18, 2013 Professor doubting Thomas subjective the Statesn Woman Zitkala-Sa The month of March is Womens chronicle Month and one of my pet months of the year. This month has the opportunity to entice race learn about women from all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds, and encourage women to admire those whove made a difference. There are many Native American women whove fought and died for the rights of their tribe and sex, still she is by far one of my favorite ones.Through literature, music, and politics, she fought to change the thoughts and beliefs of fresh America so their views of Native American culture could be better ones. call down of Important Woman I chose to write about one of my favorite Native American authors and activists, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. Zitkala Sa, which means Red Bird in the Lakota dialect, is a make up she gave herself after she left the tribe and graduated from college (Giese 1996) so she is cognise by bo th names.She was born February 22, 1876 at the Yankton Sioux Reservation (Johnson and Wilson 198827) and she died at 61 and was buried in Arlington Cemetery (due to her husbands service in World war I) in 1938 (Hoefel 1999). Racial/Ethnic Background Gertrude Simmons Bonnin is considered a part of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. She was the coalesce child of John Haysting Simmons, a man of Anglo-French decent (Johnson and Wilson 198827) and full hearty Yankton Sioux Indian Ellen Tate I yohiwin She Reaches for the Wind Simmons (Henderson 1997). She dentified more with her Native American grow beca workout of the traditional teachings her mother taught her. Her mother taught her the ways and language of the Yankton Sioux and even raised(a) her in a tipi on the Missouri River until she was 12 (Hoefel 1999). defense Gertrude Simmons Bonnin/Zitkala-Sa is such an important woman because of her positive contributions to the Native American community. Bonnin non only was one of the leading f igures in the Pan-Indian movement she dedicated her living- metre to improving the social and educational awareness of American Indians (Johnson and Wilson 198827).She used her committal to writing skills to fight for new lawmaking that favored Native Americans. Her involvement as editor of the American Indian Magazine, a quarterly magazine for the Indian Rights Association (SAI) helped to keep her people informed of any new legislation (Johnson and Wilson 198830). Life History It was at this age when Ellen Tate Iyohiwin Simmons inflexible to send her daughter to the same boarding school she attended so Bonnin would have the great power to fend for herself later in life among an increasing number of palefaces (Hoefel 1999).The boarding school Gertrude Bonnin attended was run by Quaker Missionaries in Wabash, Indiana. The Whites Manual Labor Institute became Bonnins home for four-spot years until she returned to the reservation in South Dakota. Against her mothers wishes, s he decided to seek higher education by attending another school even further from home called the Santee Normal Training School in Nebraska. After graduating from that school, Bonnin went on to get several scholarships, degrees, and accolades from Earlham College in Indiana and capital of Massachusetts Conservatory of Music.After college, she retained a teaching job at the Carlisle Indian School. This school was founded by Richard Henry Pratt, an army officer with the mottoes From savagery to cultivation and We must kill the savage to save the man (Giese 1996). In auxiliary to his mottoes, Pratt abusively exploited the students for labor while at the same time receiving government funds for each student attending the school (Henderson 1997). During the two years she taught at the school, she wrote about the punishments done to the students who didnt conform.This is when she became known as Zitkala-Sa writer and activist. She was criticized because many felt she showed no gratitud e for the kindness and support that the black-and-blue people had given her in her education (ibid. ). She married Captain Raymond Bonnin, who was a mixed Native American just like she was. Together they had a son and lived on the Ute Reservation in Utah for fourteen years. It was in that respect she actively got involved in the movement for changes within the Native American community.Through her efforts, Bonnin gained an ally named Montezuma who echoed Bonnins anti-BIA sentiments and supported her fight to grant the Indians full citizenship rights so they could mold their own fate (Johnson and Wilson 198834). Contributions During her lifetime, Bonnin accomplished a lot in the name of her Native American heritage. In 1916, the Bonnins moved to Washington DC where she acted as secretary and editor of the American Indian Magazine. She fought to ban the use of peyote amongst her people.She aired such controversial issues as enfranchisement, Indian phalanx service in World War I, c orruption in the BIA, and assignation of tribal lands (Hoefel 1999). She has expressed her voice and political opinions through her various variant writings Oklahomas Poor Rich Indians An Orgy of Graft, Exploitation of the Five civilise Tribes, Legalized Robbery (1924), American Indian Stories (1921), Why I Am a Pagan (1902), The School Days of an Indian Girl, and An Indian Teacher Among Indians.In humanitarian to her numerous publishings about Native American life and her autobiographies, she also was a leader amongst her people. She and her husband founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926. Legacies She was the first and only president of the NCAI, where she was the sole support of the organization, through address engagements to womens groups (Giese 1996) and while she was alive, its membership was made up of only Native Americans. Through her struggles and efforts, she helped American Indians gained full citizenship in 1924, (Johnson and Wilson 198838).She fo ught for government reform, law codification, dresser of Indian Affairs employment of Indians, Court of Claims redress of land settlements, and the delivery of the actual history of her people as well as assimilation, citizenship, and abolishing the BIA (Hoefel 1999). References Giese, Paula. 1996. Gertrude Bonnin Zitkala Sha Yankton Nakota. Retrieved March 19, 2013 (http//www. kstrom. net/isk/stories/authors/bonnin. html). Henderson, Melessa Renee. 1997. Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. Voices from the Gaps, Edited by Lauren Cutright.Retrieved March 20, 2013 (http//voices. cla. umn. edu/artistpages/bonnin. php). Hoefel, Roseanne. 1999. Zitkala-Sa A Biography. The Online Archive of Nineteenth-CenturyU. S. Womens Writings, Edited by Glynis Carr. Retrieved March 20, 2013 (http//www. facstaff. bucknell. edu/gcarr/19cUSWW/ZS/rh. html). Johnson, David L. and Raymond Wilson. 1988. Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, 1876-1938 Americanize the First American. American Indian Quarterly 12 (1)27-40. (Retr ieved from JSTOR on March 23, 2013).