Zitkala Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)

Melanie Freeman
Enlgish 48B
January 22. 2009
Zitkala Sa

Zitkala Sa or Gertrude Simmons Bonin is a member of the Sioux Indians, born in South Dakota in 1876. She is a well known Native American rights activist who gained public attention through her literary, debate and musical skills. Several of her short stories describing her experiences with Sioux culture were published in Atlantic Monthly, a popular magazine along the East coast. In these stories, Bonin describes her struggles while becoming "civilized" by the white population and reveals the misconceptions many people when labeling Native Americans as "savages". Bonin, like Sarah Winnemucca,viewed her childhood as the purest and happiest time of her life and believe that the white influence on Indian culture has forever damaged its beauty.

"Having gone many paces ahead I stopped, panting for breath, and laughing with glee as my mother watched my every movement. I was not wholly conscious of myself, but was more keenly alive to the fire within. It was as if I were the activity, and my hands and feet were only experiments for my spirit to work upon" (1107).

Summary:
This moment is representative of how Bonin remembers her childhood as a young, native girl. She refers to her youth on the reservation as the happiest, most carefree time in her life. The physical vitality and overall good health Bonin feels at this age will soon leave her upon to moving into the white world. Bonin associates the pure happiness she experiences as a child to her identity as a Sioux and her appreciation for the nature around her. By creating such a positive image, Bonin illustrates just how immoral it was for the whites to feel they were compelled to take away a culture that was extremely peaceful and invigorating.

Response:
After reading Sarah Winnemucca and Zitkala Sa's accounts of Native American culture, it is clear that both women had a similar message to present to their audiences. Both women wanted to prove that their society's were far from "savage" by explaining their customs and morals taught by their people. Both writers also felt that their people were forced to suffer and change their ways for unnecessary reasons. Winnemucca and Zitkala Sa begin their autobiographies by describing communities that functioned peacefully and produced healthy, happy individuals and then contrast this happiness with feelings of fear and disorientation created by the white influence. The message these writers share is that the white influence stole the precious culture belonging to the Native Americans and replaced it with suffering and a form of education that left the Natives feeling disconnected from both their own society and white society.