Zitkala-Sa
Sign in to saveAlso 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
OverviewAI-generated
Zitkála-Šá, born Gertrude in 1876 on the Yankton Indian Reservation, was a United States citizen of Yankton Sioux heritage. She worked as a writer, poet, violinist, and human rights defender. Her professional career began in 1900, during which she served as president and was employed by the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. She was educated at Earlham College and wrote in English, while her native language was Sioux.
Her notable works include *American Indian Stories*, *Oklahoma's poor rich Indians*, *American Women's Literature*, *American Indian Stories Fantasy Annotated Novel*, and *Cuentos y Leyendas de los Indios Sioux*. Her field of work focused on folklore. She died in Washington, D.C., in 1938 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
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
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
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Gertrude
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Yankton Indian Reservation
- Place of death
- Washington, D.C.
- Occupation
- human rights defender
- Position held
- president
- Educated at
- Earlham College
- Languages spoken
- Sioux
- Native language
- Sioux
- Field of work
- folklore
- Instrument
- violin
- Image
- Zitkala-Sa.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- date of birth
- 1876-02-22
- date of death
- 1938-01-28
- Commons category
- Zitkala-Sa
- ethnic group
- Sioux
- place of burial
- Arlington National Cemetery
- writing language
- English language
- start of work period
- 1900-00-00
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~24 min read
Encyclopedic overview
17 sectionsContents
- 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.