"An edited compilation with illustrations of the later writings and speeches of Native American activist Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkala-S̈a)"--

"Bright and carefree, Zitkála-Sá 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, Zitkála-Sá 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 Zitkála-Sá 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."--

Chronicles, through her own reminiscences, letters, speeches, and stories, the experiences of the Yankton Indian woman whose life spanned the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century.

Provides brief biographical information on eleven Native American women writers and discusses their work through critical excerpts. Includes a bibliography of works written by each featured author.

Zitkala-Š̌̌̌a finds that she can sing through her music, but also by writing stories and giving speeches and being an activist for Native American rights.

In this edited volume, Theda Perdue, a nationally known expert on Indian history and southern women's history, offers a rich collection of biographical essays on Native American women. From Pocahontas, a Powhatan woman of the seventeenth century, to Ada Deer, the Menominee woman who headed the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1990s, the essays span four centuries. Each one recounts the experiences of women from vastly different cultural traditions--the hunting and gathering of Kumeyaay culture of Delfina Cuero, the pueblo society of San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez, and the powerful matrilineal kinship system of Molly Brant's Mohawks. Contributors focus on the ways in which different women have fashioned lives that remain firmly rooted in their identity as Native women. Perdue's introductory essay ties together the themes running through the biographical sketches, including the cultural factors that have shaped the lives of Native women, particularly economic contributions, kinship,

This collection of biographies for kids explores 15 Native Americans and some of the incredible things they achieved. Kids will explore the ways each of these people used their talents and beliefs to stand up for what's right and stay true to themselves and their community.