American Indian Stories

Wonderful book; fascinating stories; important for women and men. Especially important for the significance of minority women writers.

I have never read any Native American literature before but, I had to read these stories for a Literature class and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I would recommend this reading to anyone who is somewhat interested in the history of Native America or who is interest in great story telling. The stories are so visual and Zitkala Sa takes the reader through her childhood memories with passion, emotion, depth and sincerity. Her stories shed light on what happened in that era for those who aren't as familiar with the history of Native Americans. Her experience compels us as humans to take a closer look at our actions and strive to preserve the beauty and differences of all cultures not just of the Native American. Zitkala Sa emerges from her tragic experiences and her loss of culture and spirit to become one of the most notable Native American Activists fighting for the rights of her people and stressing the importance cultural preservation. All these short stories are beautiful and moving.

Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) collected her autobiographical narratives from the Atlantic Monthly (1900-1902), and some fictional folktales, in this 1921 book. Obscure and out of print for decades, it was rediscovered in the 1970s and in 1985 was issued in this facsimile of the first edition, with a helpful forward by Dexter Fisher. It's tempting to call Zitkala-Sa the Native American Zora Neale Hurston, but Zitkala-Sa is too original to be seen as a version of anyone else. The story of her upbringing, and the deceptive luring of her to a missionary-sponsored school in the east, where she found herself held down as her hair was cut (a scene that reads with the intensity of a rape), is riveting and heartrending. Although bitter about her experiences, she achieved a full education in English, expertise on the violin (she performed in Paris), and finally the presidency of the National Council of American Indians, which successfully promoted a law making Native Americans citizens of the United States. The book as a whole reflects her empowerment, but also speaks eloquently in a conquering culture's language of what it is to have no power over your destiny or selfhood. Her integration of several competing selves led her to write this, in "The Great Spirit": "The racial lines, which once were bitterly real, now serve nothing more than marking out a living mosaic of human beings." I for one feel richer for having read this book, and knowing the story of an American hero in her own words. Very highly recommended to all.