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A review by jackelz
American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá
4.0
American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá is a combination of memoir, short stories, and poetry.
The first part of the book — the memoir bits — were definitely my favorite.
Zitkála-Šá grew up on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota with her mother until the Quaker missionaries arrived, offering the reservation’s children a free education. The journey to the missionary school was not the adventure that Zitkála-Šá expected, and the school is a strict one. Her long hair is cut short, and only English is spoken. She encounters racism and ridicule. Slowly, she adapts to her environment by excelling at her studies, winning prizes for essay-writing and oration. But then begins the estrangement from her cultural roots.
“Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards!”
I knew what was to happen next. And you could feel her anguish.
“I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's! In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used to do; for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder.”
Her mother was also a fascinating woman, and I would’ve loved to hear more of the knowledge and advice she passed down to her daughter.
“He is the hypocrite who reads with one eye, ‘thou shalt not kill,’ and with the other gloats upon the sufferings of the Indian race.”
This is a great book to start with if you’re interested in Native American Studies and History, because it’s relatively short. I would, however, maybe take breaks in between the memoir and short story sections, as to lessen the chance of confusion. I’m glad I read this one in sections and really let the content and message soak in.
The first part of the book — the memoir bits — were definitely my favorite.
Zitkála-Šá grew up on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota with her mother until the Quaker missionaries arrived, offering the reservation’s children a free education. The journey to the missionary school was not the adventure that Zitkála-Šá expected, and the school is a strict one. Her long hair is cut short, and only English is spoken. She encounters racism and ridicule. Slowly, she adapts to her environment by excelling at her studies, winning prizes for essay-writing and oration. But then begins the estrangement from her cultural roots.
“Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards!”
I knew what was to happen next. And you could feel her anguish.
“I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost my spirit. Since the day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. People had stared at me. I had been tossed about in the air like a wooden puppet. And now my long hair was shingled like a coward's! In my anguish I moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used to do; for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder.”
Her mother was also a fascinating woman, and I would’ve loved to hear more of the knowledge and advice she passed down to her daughter.
“He is the hypocrite who reads with one eye, ‘thou shalt not kill,’ and with the other gloats upon the sufferings of the Indian race.”
This is a great book to start with if you’re interested in Native American Studies and History, because it’s relatively short. I would, however, maybe take breaks in between the memoir and short story sections, as to lessen the chance of confusion. I’m glad I read this one in sections and really let the content and message soak in.