Keywords
Indigenous, Native American, Dakota, Zitkala-Ša, Woman, Assimilation, Politics, Self-determination, Boarding Schools, Literature, Resistance, American Indian, Colonialism, Cultural Preservation, Childhood
Abstract
Zitkala-Ša was a Dakota writer, educator, and political activist who was and is widely influential within and outside of Native American communities during the twentieth century. As a child, Zitkala-Ša was sent to school at White's Indiana Manual Labor Institute, which spurred her writings in “School Days of an Indian Girl” recounting her experiences at the school and the struggles she faced. Though many scholars debate the activist choices she made in her later life as either pro or anti assimilation, some also extend this political criticism into her childhood experiences. My paper argues an alternative reading of these boarding school experiences: rather than being politically motivated, Zitkala-Ša’s resistance to White culture was because of her inclination to preserve and connect to her Dakota identity. Her desire for cultural continuity is demonstrated throughout her many childhood experiences before and during boarding school and also perseveres into her adult life through her choices to wear her hair long, dress in her Dakota regalia, and write in the Dakota language.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Aguiar, Toni
(2024)
"Painted as Political: The Cultural Significance within Zitkala-Ša’s Boarding School Narratives,"
Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism: Vol. 17:
Iss.
1, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/criterion/vol17/iss1/4