Author(s): Zitkala-Sa; Layli Long Soldier (Introduction by)

Native American Lore | Mythology

Bright and carefree, Zitkala-Sa grows up on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota with her mother until Quaker missionaries arrive, offering a free education to all Sioux children. The catch- the children must leave their parents behind and travel to Indiana. Curious about the world beyond the reservation, Zitkala-Sa begs her mother to let her go-and her mother, aware of the advantage that an education offers, reluctantly agrees. But the missionary school is not the adventure that Zitkala-Sa expected- the school is a strict one, her long hair is cut, and only English is spoken. She encounters racism and ridicule. Slowly, she adapts to her environment-excelling at her studies, winning prizes for essay-writing and oration. Vivid and poignant, this memoir is the story of an activist in the making, a woman whose extraordinary career partially inspired the events of Killers of the Flower Moon.