Zitkala-Ša: “Neither a Wild Indian, nor a Tame One”

Abstract

[Abstract] Literature written in English encompasses a large number of literary works, written by authors of different origins. However, the canon studied generally focuses only on those written by white male authors and from anglophone countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States or Ireland. One of these multicultural literatures1 is made up of those literary works written by Native Americans in the last centuries, among which the Sioux author Zitkala-Ša is not only a pioneer voice but she also has become a respected author. The purpose of this Undergraduate Thesis is, first, to explain the situation that many Indian children suffered in the so-called “boarding schools,” created by the US government to make them assimilate into the Western culture. Secondly, the aim of this essay is to study Zitkala-Ša’s literature and trying to prove that she was able to keep attached to and be proud of her roots, at the same time she became one of the most important indigenous rights activists and writers. In an attempt to analyse how her literary work shares her passion as an advocate for the cause of Native Americans, this paper will focus on close-reading analysis of three of her autobiographical essays, “Impressions of an Indian Childhood,” “The School Days of an Indian Girl,” and “An Indian Teacher Among Indians,” all of them published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1900 and compiled in American Indian Stories in 1921. First, on Chapter One, I will provide a brief introduction about the Indian boarding schools and how they have operated from its inception in the late 1890s to the late 1970s. Then, the focus will be put on Zitkala-Sâ and her biography, followed by a detailed analysis of the features of her literature, as well as the reception her work has received had during her lifetime and up to more recent times. Finally, Zitkala-Ša’s autobiographic stories mentioned above will be studied in detail. The result of this research aims to demonstrate that, throughout history, as the case of Zilkala-Sá’s proves, literature has been an important weapon of social denunciation for the defence of Native Americans’ human rights. But not only that, we will try to evince how Zitkala-Ša has been able to overcome the main and explicit objective of the boarding school system —"kill the Indian, save the man" or, in this case, “save the woman”—. By remaining rooted to her cultural origins despite her profound and painful feeling of alienation, she will be recognized as one of the most important indigenous writers and activists of the last century.