Walter cañon

They took her away from her family, cut off her long braids, punished her for speaking her own language, and tried to strip away her Native American identity. But the little girl they tried to silence grew up to become a writer, help create a groundbreaking opera, and lead a national movement for Indigenous rights. Her name was Zitkala-Ša. She was born on February 22, 1876, on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Her Dakota name meant Red Bird. At eight years old she was sent to White’s Indiana Manual Labor Institute. The school’s purpose was to assimilate Native children. Their languages were forbidden and their traditions discouraged. One experience was especially painful: school authorities cut off her long braids. “Then I lost my spirit,” she later wrote. During her time at school she discovered music and public speaking. She became a skilled violinist and won speaking competitions, which helped her gain admission to the New England Conservatory in Boston. In the early 1900s her essays appeared in *The Atlantic Monthly* and *Harper’s*. Her 1900 essay *The School Days of an Indian Girl* became an important firsthand account of boarding school life. In 1913, working with composer William F. Hanson, she helped create *The Sun Dance*, widely recognized as the first opera written by a Native American. After marrying Raymond Bonnin she became increasingly involved in the struggle for Native American rights. In 1924 Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, granting U.S. citizenship to Native Americans born in the country. In 1926 she and her husband helped establish the National Council of American Indians, and she became its president. Zitkala-Ša continued fighting until her death on January 26, 1938, at the age of 61. She reclaimed the name Zitkala-Ša, Red Bird, and turned it into a declaration of identity. She learned English and used it to expose injustice. She learned music and used it to preserve Native traditions. The boarding school system had tried to silence her culture, but she became one of its most powerful defenders .