""I remember the day I lost my spirit." So begins the story of Gertrude
Simmons, also known as Zitkala-Sa, which means Red Bird. Born in 1876 on
the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota, Zitkala-Sa willingly
left her home at age eight to go to a boarding school in Indiana. But
she soon found herself caught between two worlds--white and Native
American.
At school she missed her mother and her traditional
life, but Zitkala-Sa found joy in music classes. "My wounded spirit
soared like a bird as I practiced the piano and violin," she wrote. Her
talent grew, and when she graduated, she became a music teacher,
composer, and performer.
Zitkala-Sa found she could also "sing"
to help her people by writing stories and giving speeches. As an adult,
she worked as an activist for Native American rights, seeking to build a
bridge between cultures.
The coauthors have told about
Zitkala-Sa's life by weaving together pieces from her own stories. The
artist's acrylic illustrations and collages of photos and primary source
documents round out the vivid portrait of Zitkala-Sa, a frightened
child whose spirit "would rise again, stronger and wiser for the wounds
it had suffered.""
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