Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkala-Ša (Volume 67) (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series) by Tadeusz Lewandowski


Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkala-Ša (Volume 67) (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series)
Title : Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkala-Ša (Volume 67) (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0806151781
ISBN-10 : 9780806151786
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 288
Publication : Published May 26, 2016

Red Bird, Red Power tells the story of one of the most influential—and controversial—American Indian activists of the twentieth century. Zitkala-Ša (1876–1938), also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a highly gifted writer, editor, and musician who dedicated her life to achieving justice for Native peoples. Here, Tadeusz Lewandowski offers the first full-scale biography of the woman whose passionate commitment to improving the lives of her people propelled her to the forefront of Progressive-era reform movements.

Lewandowski draws on a vast array of sources, including previously unpublished letters and diaries, to recount Zitkala-Ša’s unique life journey. Her story begins on the Dakota plains, where she was born to a Yankton Sioux mother and a white father. Zitkala-Ša, whose name translates as “Red Bird” in English, left home at age eight to attend a Quaker boarding school, eventually working as a teacher at Carlisle Indian Industrial School. By her early twenties, she was the toast of East Coast literary society. Her short stories for the Atlantic Monthly (1900) are, to this day, the focus of scholarly analysis and debate. In collaboration with William F. Hanson, she wrote the libretto and songs for the innovative Sun Dance Opera (1913).

And yet, as Lewandowski demonstrates, Zitkala-Ša’s successes could not fill the void of her lost cultural heritage, nor dampen her fury toward the Euro-American establishment that had robbed her people of their land. In 1926, she founded the National Council of American Indians with the aim of redressing American Indian grievances.

Zitkala-Ša’s complex identity has made her an intriguing—if elusive—subject for scholars. In Lewandowski’s sensitive interpretation, she emerges as a multifaceted human being whose work entailed constant negotiation. In the end, Lewandowski argues, Zitkala-Ša’s achievements distinguish her as a forerunner of the Red Power movement and an important agent of change.

Red Bird, Red Power: The Life and Legacy of Zitkala-Ša (Volume 67) (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series) Reviews

  • Francesca Williams

    Before reading this book, I was already somewhat familiar with many of the insults Native Americans have endured over the past four hundred years.

    I had never heard of Zitkala-Ša. I am inspired by her fierce dedication to her people on so many levels.

    One thing I learned from this book is that Native Americans were only were granted citizenship en masse in 1924. Even after that, many states laws disenfranchised many Native Americans. The violations are so numerous.

    White greed has done so much damage to Native Americans. When will we stop crushing all those who stand in the way of profits?

  • Will White

    This was an excellent biography of a fascinating figure in American history. Zitkala-Sa was a person who lived with a number of contradictions — a devout Catholic who campaigned for Native culture, a classical musician who pursued her interest in European music while living on a reservation, a composer who wrote an opera about a Native American ritual that she sought to ban.

    But throughout her life she worked tirelessly to make a better world for Native Americans in their own country. She wrote beautifully about the Native experience, publishing in The Atlantic over 100 years ago. Her life story serves as an excellent introduction to the Native American experience, and this book has a great mix of scholarly detail, narrative flow, and big-picture themes. Highly recommended.

  • Courtney

    This was incredibly well researched and very scholarly, which unfortunately made it very dry reading. I ended up skimming the last half. But the life portrayed was truly remarkable, both triumphant for the efforts Zitkala-Sa made on behalf of Native Americans, and truy sad because of the course of her life experiences simply because she WAS Native American.

  • Prudence Debates

    Very interesting account of an influential Native American woman who I'd never heard of.
    Didn't realize there was as much challenge to the system going on in the late 1800s/early 1900s as this book exposes. Would recommend to anyone interested in the Native American struggle. It certainly does not paint a pretty picture of the white man and his "Christian" values. Very disturbing look at the ethnocentrism of our culture.