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Zitkala-Sa
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Zitkala-Sa

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Also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Gertrude Simmons, Gertie Eveline Felker, Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin), Zitkála-Šá, Gertrude Simmons “Zitkála-Sá” Bonnin, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa)

Zitkala-Ša, also Zitkála-Šá (Lakota: , meaning Red Bird; February 22, 1876 – January 26, 1938), was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She was also known by her anglicized and married name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity, and the pull between the majority culture in which she was educated, and the Dakota culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking re

Person · Open Library

Born
1876
Died
1938
Works
25

Top works

  • Oklahoma's poor rich Indians
  • American Women's Literature
  • American Indian Stories
  • American Indian Stories Fantasy Annotated Novel
  • Cuentos y Leyendas de los Indios Sioux

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United States
_edit

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
14
Total plays
62

Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938) (Dakota: pronounced zitkála-ša, which translates to "Red Bird"), also known by the missionary-given name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Sioux writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles in her youth as she was pulled back and forth between the influences of dominant American culture and her own Native American heritage, as well as books in English that brought <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Zitkala-sa">Rea

via Last.fm · Zitkala-sa

Key facts

Officeholder.known_for
Co-composed the first American Indian opera, founded the National Council of American Indians, authored books and magazine articles such as Sun Dance Opera, Old Indian Legends, American Indian Stories, and "Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians"
Officeholder.mother
Thaté Iyóhiwiŋ ("Every Wind" or "Reaches for the Wind"), also called Ellen Simmons
Officeholder.children
Raymond Ohiya Bonnin
Officeholder.signature
Gertrude Bonnin Signature.png
Officeholder.name
Zitkala-Ša
Officeholder.native_name_lang
Lakota
Officeholder.image
Zitkala-Ša.tif
Officeholder.alt
Sepia toned image of bust Native American woman looking straight into the camera.
Officeholder.caption
Zitkala-Ša in 1898, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Officeholder.birth_place
Yankton Indian Reservation, Dakota Territory
Officeholder.death_place
Washington, DC, US
Officeholder.resting_place
Arlington National Cemetery(as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)
Officeholder.office
1st President of the National Council of American Indians
Officeholder.predecessor
Office established
Officeholder.term_start
1926
Officeholder.term_end
1938
Officeholder.successor
Raymond Talephause Bonnin
Officeholder.nationality
Yankton Dakota, American

via Wikipedia infobox

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

17 sections
Contents
  • Early life and education
  • Music and teaching
  • Marriage and family
  • Writing career
  • ''American Indian Stories''
  • ''Old Indian Legends''
  • "Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians"
  • Articles for ''American Indian Magazine''
  • Making an opera
  • Political activism
  • Death and legacy
  • Writings by Zitkala-Ša
  • Scores
  • See also
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • External links

Zitkala-Ša, also Zitkála-Šá (Lakota: , meaning Red Bird; February 22, 1876 – January 26, 1938), was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She was also known by her anglicized and married name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity, and the pull between the majority culture in which she was educated, and the Dakota culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking readership.

She was co-founder of the National Council of American Indians in 1926, which was established to lobby for Native people's right to United States citizenship and other civil rights they had long been denied. Zitkala-Ša served as the council's president until her death in 1938. Zitkala-Ša has been noted as one of the most influential Native American activists of the 20th century. Working with American musician William F. Hanson, Zitkala-Ša wrote the libretto and songs for The Sun Dance Opera (1913), the first American Indian opera. It was composed in romantic musical style, and based on Sioux and Ute cultural themes.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Zitkala-Sa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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