ZITKALA-SA
(Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)

Zitkala-Sa (1876–1938) was born on the Yankton Reservation in South Dakota where she was raised as a traditional Sioux. She was given the name Gertrude Simmons in missionary school, an experience she later described in The School Days of an Indian Girl, first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1900. Other writings appeared in Harper’s Monthly, including The Soft-Hearted Sioux in 1901. Her first collection, Old Indian Stories, was published in 1901, and a second, American Indian Stories, in 1921. Gertrude added the name “Bonnin” when she married Captain Raymond Bonnin in 1902. She was a member of the Society of American Indians, and was editor of American Indian Magazine from 1918 to 1919. She was active in politics, and founded the National Council of American Indians in 1921.

Native American Classics:
Graphic Classics Volume 24
144 pages, color, $15

ORDER NOW