“A wee child toddling in a wonder world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at present, at least, I am a Pagan.”
1876–1938
In the language of her tribe, the Dakota, Zitkala-Sa translates as “Red Bird.” Her mother was Sioux, her father an American European who left the family when Zitkala-Sa was very young. She lived during a time of great change for Native Americans, as their society became subject to assimilation into the new, domineering European one. Zitkala-Sa would prove to be a woman for her time, a real polymath with many talents, including that of writing music, and a major influence in campaigning for the rights of Native American Indians.
Her early years living on the reservation were carefree and unencumbered. This all changed with the coming of the missionaries in 1884. Several children from the reservation—including Zitkala-Sa—were taken to an organization named White’s Manual Labor Institute in Indiana, an educational program for impoverished children of all races. It was here that Zitkala-Sa was renamed Gertrude Simmons, her long hair was chopped off, and she was encouraged to leave behind her powerful Sioux culture and adopt the faith of the Quakers.
There were advantages in Zitkala-Sa’s presence at the Institute, though; here she learned to read and write, and also to play the violin and piano, which gave her great pleasure and would inform her career in later life.
After three years she returned to the reservation to live again with her mother; however, Zitkala-Sa found that she no longer felt at home in either culture. The year after the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890, at the age of 15, Zitkala-Sa opted to return to the Institute to resume her education. Eschewing the career path that had been mapped out for her as a housekeeper, a fate that was prescribed for all young Indian girls, Zitkala-Sa instead continued to study music and became the music tutor at the Institute. She also became interested in the rights of the Native peoples, particularly the women of the tribes.
In 1895 Zitkala-Sa won a scholarship to Earlham College in Richmond, Virginia; in the context of the times, this was quite an achievement. After also playing violin with the New England Conservatory in Boston, Zitkala-Sa’s career took another turn when she went to work at the Carlisle School. Because of her first-hand experience, she was able to criticize what she saw as the faults of the school’s methods, in which Indian children were deliberately removed from the influence of their own society and culture and forced instead to take on the mantle of European “civilization.” Zitkala-Sa was able to express her opinions by writing articles, which appeared in various periodicals including Harper’s. Sent back to her own reservation to enroll students, she was shocked to find that her family home was in a state of disrepair and that her people were suffeing from poverty since, despite the Dawes Act which promised the tribes their own land, white settlers were nevertheless encroaching onto Indian territory. Angered by what she saw, once back at the school she became highly critical of its methods and was sacked for her renegade attitudes. She returned once again to her home on the reservation in 1901, and it was here that she began collecting the folktales and stories of her tribe, which she subsequently published as Old Indian Legends. It was while working as a clerk of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the reservation that she met the man she would marry, Captain Raymond Bonnin.
In 1910, Zitkala-Sa and composer William Hanson began working together, taking traditional Sioux melodies to form a work called The Sun Dance Opera, which premiered in 1913 in Utah.
Zitkala-Sa’s passion for the rights of her people was growing stronger, and her writing was growing more political, especially during the years 1916 to 1924. During this time she moved to Washington, D.C. with her husband, publishing American Indian Stories in 1921 as well as an article entitled “Oklahoma’s Poor Rich Indians: An Orgy of Graft and Exploitation of the Five Civilized Tribes, Legalized Robbery.” Published in 1923, this controversial piece was coauthored with Charles Fabens of the American Indian Defense Association and also with Matthew Sniffen at the Indian Rights Association, which also published it. This work would prove extremely influential in pushing forward the Indian Reorganization Act. Zitkala-Sa also founded the Indian Welfare Committee of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Zitkala-Sa envisioned a coming-together of all tribes; she knew that such strength in numbers would fortify the fight for Indian rights. In 1926 she and Bonnin founded the National Council of American Indians. For the next 12 years Zitkala-Sa acted as president and fundraiser on behalf of the organization, until her untimely death at the age of 61 in 1938.
The Zuni—who referred to themselves in their own language as A Shiwi—were a very important Native American people who lived in the Pueblo style. Their village was also named Zuni, and they were the only people to speak the Zuni language. A language that exists in one area only is described as an “isolate.” The Zuni also had a belief system that was unique to them.
Located in New Mexico, the village of Zuni was possibly the first Pueblan settlement to be seen by any white man. Fray Marcos of Niza, who first visited it in 1539, was very impressed, and his description of the village to the great Spanish explorer, Coronado, convinced the latter that Marcos had stumbled onto the legendary and fabulous kingdom of Cibola, which was believed to be stuffed full of treasures in the form of precious gems and gold. Accordingly, Coronado set sail from Spain for Zuni the next year. He must have been disappointed to find that Zuni was just an “ordinary” Native American village.
In common with other Pueblans, the Zuni were an agricultural people, described by the early Americans as “quiet, industrious, and generally good-tempered.” The Spanish might not have shared this opinion, however, since in 1680 the Zuni joined others in the area in a revolt against them, forcing the Spanish invaders to retreat. Prior to this, the Zuni Indians had lived in six different villages; afterwards, they sought to protect themselves by relocating to a more easily defended home, and settled on top of a steep-sided mesa. Even today, some Zuni still live in the old-style pueblo homes. Making crafts has become an important way of subsistence for the people. These crafts include ceramics, silver smithing, and embroidery.
The religious beliefs of the Zuni focus on three central deities: the Earth Mother, the Sun Father, and the Moonlight Giving Mother. Key to the spirituality of the people is a pilgrimage, which takes place every four years around the time of the summer solstice. At this time, the Zuni go to Koluwalawa, a Kachin village also known as the Zuni Heaven. The village is some 60 miles southwest. Another pilgrimage takes the Zuni, along with other tribes in the surrounding areas, to the Zuni Salt Lake, not only to follow religious observances but to harvest dried salt at the same time. The lake itself is believed to be home to another deity, the Salt Mother.
A Zuni girl will choose the moment that she feels she is a woman, and will signal this moment to the rest of the tribe by going to her paternal grandmother’s house to grind corn. This she will do all day long, to indicate that she is ready to take an active part in the well-being of the tribe.
When a Zuni boy is ready to come of age, a spiritual guide or “father” is selected by his parents, and he undergoes particular initiation rites that will enable him to enter the world of men.